Voter ID laws
Aug. 19th, 2012 02:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
justalurkrGeorgia has one. I've read the page behind that link and am having a little trouble seeing the issue. Understandable, as the .gov site is no doubt designed to make this appear a non-issue. What's the fuss about disenfranchisement and poll taxes if the State of Georgia is willing to issue free Voter ID Cards?
A perfect storm of events has brought all of this to my attention:
1. I threw out my expired passport years ago and now need one to take a cruise with the parental units in January. Birth certificate needed. Embossed stamp of certification required to be considered valid.
2. My GA driver's lisence expires this year on my birthday in October. Am still looking into this, but apparently since the end of July this year, birth certificate needed. Embossed stamp of certification required to be considered valid.
3. GA now requires a picture ID to vote in any election, but I mostly care about the one in November following the expiration of my main picture ID.
The Hunt County courthouse housing my (and my mother's) birth certificate(s) burned to the ground taking all records with it some time ago, leaving us with what are obviously microfiche copies with no embossing provided. The certification of validity is a hand printed note from the then Clerk of Records. Maybe it was the County Clerk, I'm not sure because the FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF STATE TOOK MY ONLY ORIGINAL COPY OF THE ORIGINAL.
I guess it's good news that they took it to begin with, I guess.
TL:DR version: There's an outstanding chance I'll have a valid passport in hand to renew my GA driver's lisence in time to use it to vote this November, thus obviating the need for a free voter ID card issued by the State of Georgia. My curiosity remained piqued, however and I kept reading the Secretary of State site for what ID is necessary to get the free ID.
First, any ONE of the following is acceptable ID for voting.
Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID, including a *FREE Voter ID Card issued by your county registrar's office or the *Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS)
*A Georgia Driver's License, even if expired
*Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority or other entity of this state
*Valid U.S. passport ID
*Valid U.S. military photo ID
*Valid tribal photo ID
TL:DR version: Oh. So, I can actually vote this November using only an expired GA driver's lisence. Interesting. No info on how long it can have been expired. I know I have my old FL driver's liscense around here, last used just prior to its expiration to get the resident discount at Disney World even though I'd been in Georgia for, like, nine months by then. I wonder if Florida allows expired DL as ID for voting? If they did and I gave a rat's toot in a hurricane what was up in Broward County (12 years without any nationally publicized voting irregularities!) these days...man, these laws totally protect us from voter fraud!.
But I digress. I was originally looking for super sekret evidence of poll taxing in the ID requirements, superficially circumvented by the State of Georgia's willingness to issue its citizens free voter ID cards. So, what do I need for one of those again?
All of this:
-A photo identity document or approved non-photo identity document that includes full legal name and date of birth
-Documentation showing the voter's date of birth
-Evidence that the applicant is a registered voter
-Documentation showing the applicant's name and residential address
Or an expired GA driver's lisence. I can sleep soundly at night knowing that no fraudulent votes will be cast by people who lived in Georgia long enough to get a driver's lisence sometime in the past however long!
The original pique to my interest (before discovering that expiration does not invalidate a driver's lisence for voting in the State of Georgia) was:
-A photo identity document or approved non-photo identity document that includes full legal name and date of birth
-Documentation showing the voter's date of birth
It appears that one's birth certificate can stand in for photo ID and is required. Since the document including full name and date of birth isn't specified to be a birth certificate in the Secretary of State's verbiage, I'm assuming my adoption papers (wherever they are) or my marriage lisence would suffice, except for the part where I've been cheerfully single my entire life. (Disclaimer: That's all inference from the site failing to specify "birth certificate" as the document including full name and DOB, btw. I'm not a member of the legal profession and I don't think the Georgia Secretary of State's webmaster/mistress is, either. )
Next pique:
-Evidence that the applicant is a registered voter
Well, if I'm 18, it's with 32 years of practice, but if I were and just coming in to register, how would I meet this requirement? OMG THEY'RE DISENFRANCHISING THE YOUTH. Like failing a loan application because you can't prove you don't need one, now you can't register to vote unless you're registered?
At this rate, when my driver's lisence expires, I'm totally putting it in a safety deposit box and carrying my passport (assuming the Federal Department of State has no objection to my birth certificate's pitifully unembossed state) as ID.
Anyway, since the Bank of Mom and Dad obtained and houses my birth certificate when I or the State Department don't have it, I have no idea what it costs to obtain one normally, let alone through the personal good offices of a County Clerk due to past history of record burning. Wouldn't fees associated with obtaining an original or certified birth certificate for the purposes of voter ID count as a poll tax? Even though GA natives can get one for free by heading to their home County courthouse, what does the time and trouble of doing that count as?
And why on any sane planet would an expired state driver's lisence be valid proof of ID? I mean, clearly on the insane, racist and classicist planets, it lets anyone who's had the resources to obtain a driver's lisence off the hook for proving who they are for a free ....oh.
Yeah.
Never mind.
edited to add: replying to a reply has brought it to my attention that I misspelled the word "licence" throughout this entire post. For some reason, there doesn't appear to be a search & replace function to fix. Please be aware that spell check has finally schooled me.
A perfect storm of events has brought all of this to my attention:
1. I threw out my expired passport years ago and now need one to take a cruise with the parental units in January. Birth certificate needed. Embossed stamp of certification required to be considered valid.
2. My GA driver's lisence expires this year on my birthday in October. Am still looking into this, but apparently since the end of July this year, birth certificate needed. Embossed stamp of certification required to be considered valid.
3. GA now requires a picture ID to vote in any election, but I mostly care about the one in November following the expiration of my main picture ID.
The Hunt County courthouse housing my (and my mother's) birth certificate(s) burned to the ground taking all records with it some time ago, leaving us with what are obviously microfiche copies with no embossing provided. The certification of validity is a hand printed note from the then Clerk of Records. Maybe it was the County Clerk, I'm not sure because the FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF STATE TOOK MY ONLY ORIGINAL COPY OF THE ORIGINAL.
I guess it's good news that they took it to begin with, I guess.
TL:DR version: There's an outstanding chance I'll have a valid passport in hand to renew my GA driver's lisence in time to use it to vote this November, thus obviating the need for a free voter ID card issued by the State of Georgia. My curiosity remained piqued, however and I kept reading the Secretary of State site for what ID is necessary to get the free ID.
First, any ONE of the following is acceptable ID for voting.
Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID, including a *FREE Voter ID Card issued by your county registrar's office or the *Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS)
*A Georgia Driver's License, even if expired
*Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority or other entity of this state
*Valid U.S. passport ID
*Valid U.S. military photo ID
*Valid tribal photo ID
TL:DR version: Oh. So, I can actually vote this November using only an expired GA driver's lisence. Interesting. No info on how long it can have been expired. I know I have my old FL driver's liscense around here, last used just prior to its expiration to get the resident discount at Disney World even though I'd been in Georgia for, like, nine months by then. I wonder if Florida allows expired DL as ID for voting? If they did and I gave a rat's toot in a hurricane what was up in Broward County (12 years without any nationally publicized voting irregularities!) these days...man, these laws totally protect us from voter fraud!.
But I digress. I was originally looking for super sekret evidence of poll taxing in the ID requirements, superficially circumvented by the State of Georgia's willingness to issue its citizens free voter ID cards. So, what do I need for one of those again?
All of this:
-A photo identity document or approved non-photo identity document that includes full legal name and date of birth
-Documentation showing the voter's date of birth
-Evidence that the applicant is a registered voter
-Documentation showing the applicant's name and residential address
Or an expired GA driver's lisence. I can sleep soundly at night knowing that no fraudulent votes will be cast by people who lived in Georgia long enough to get a driver's lisence sometime in the past however long!
The original pique to my interest (before discovering that expiration does not invalidate a driver's lisence for voting in the State of Georgia) was:
-A photo identity document or approved non-photo identity document that includes full legal name and date of birth
-Documentation showing the voter's date of birth
It appears that one's birth certificate can stand in for photo ID and is required. Since the document including full name and date of birth isn't specified to be a birth certificate in the Secretary of State's verbiage, I'm assuming my adoption papers (wherever they are) or my marriage lisence would suffice, except for the part where I've been cheerfully single my entire life. (Disclaimer: That's all inference from the site failing to specify "birth certificate" as the document including full name and DOB, btw. I'm not a member of the legal profession and I don't think the Georgia Secretary of State's webmaster/mistress is, either. )
Next pique:
-Evidence that the applicant is a registered voter
Well, if I'm 18, it's with 32 years of practice, but if I were and just coming in to register, how would I meet this requirement? OMG THEY'RE DISENFRANCHISING THE YOUTH. Like failing a loan application because you can't prove you don't need one, now you can't register to vote unless you're registered?
At this rate, when my driver's lisence expires, I'm totally putting it in a safety deposit box and carrying my passport (assuming the Federal Department of State has no objection to my birth certificate's pitifully unembossed state) as ID.
Anyway, since the Bank of Mom and Dad obtained and houses my birth certificate when I or the State Department don't have it, I have no idea what it costs to obtain one normally, let alone through the personal good offices of a County Clerk due to past history of record burning. Wouldn't fees associated with obtaining an original or certified birth certificate for the purposes of voter ID count as a poll tax? Even though GA natives can get one for free by heading to their home County courthouse, what does the time and trouble of doing that count as?
And why on any sane planet would an expired state driver's lisence be valid proof of ID? I mean, clearly on the insane, racist and classicist planets, it lets anyone who's had the resources to obtain a driver's lisence off the hook for proving who they are for a free ....oh.
Yeah.
Never mind.
edited to add: replying to a reply has brought it to my attention that I misspelled the word "licence" throughout this entire post. For some reason, there doesn't appear to be a search & replace function to fix. Please be aware that spell check has finally schooled me.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-08-19 06:25 pm (UTC)Q: what's an expired GA driver's license good for?
A: Voter ID
Is boggling me not quite to speechlessness.
But not as much as the sudden realization that I misspelled the word "license" more or less throughout the preceding post. (facepalm)