In the South the Republican campaign to use its waning power to strip likely Democratic voters of their rights continues. While Alabama hauls out that old chestnut "voter fraud", Georgia Republicans have passed a law requiring a photo ID from every voter before going into a booth. Georgia Democrats challenged the law, and today a Fulton County judge named Tom Campbell refused their request for an injunction.
Fulton County judge on Friday declined to halt enforcement of the state's controversial photo ID law when voters go to the polls to cast ballots in Tuesday's primaries.
The ruling, by Superior Court Judge Tom Campbell, means voters must present photo IDs when going to the polls on July 15. The Georgia Democratic Party had filed suit, seeking a temporary restraining order against the law.
The state Democratic Party had asked Campbell to grant a temporary restraining order halting enforcement of the 2006 law. It requires all Georgia voters to present a government-issued photo ID at the polls.
"After considering the evidence and balancing the harms alleged by each party, the court finds that the plaintiff has failed to meet the legal standard for the granting of a temporary restraining order," Campbell wrote.
Secretary of State Karen Handel told Campbell there would be "mass chaos" at the state's 3,000 precincts if the judge granted such an order.
"It would really put the entire process in disarray," she testified. She said it would be "impossible" to change the requirements at the precincts in just four days.
Thing is, see, Tom Campbell is a Republican hack appointed by Gov Sonny Perdue, a GOP hack of a slightly more exalted order. Both of them are long-time Bushies with the ethics of carrion - Purdue won his title as Governor when Karl Rove stole it for him - and in order for Tomboy to find legitimate "harm", something bad would have to happen to a Republican. It didn't. It happened to the poor and disadvantaged, and they can go screw themselves. These are modern conservatives we're talking about, and your right to vote doesn't mean anything to them if you're not probably going to vote Pub.
Constitution and places an undue burden on the right to vote, particularly on the poor, the disabled and minorities.
"It serves no purpose," Bondurant said of the law. "It does not prevent fraud. It affects the right to vote."
Bondurant is, of course, explaining precisely why two GOP hacks like Handel and Campbell wanted the law passed and wanted it to be kept in force. This is why the Bush Admin put so much energy into packing Federal and state benches with Pubs. They want their unConstitutional infringements on likely Democratic voters to continue unimpeded by any consideration of law or fairness. Win At Any Price, that's their credo.
Because it has to be. If they couldn't steal elections, they wouldn't win any.
In the February primaries, Bondurant noted, 409 provisional ballots were cast but only 155 voters returned with acceptable identification. That meant that 254 people who wanted to vote were not allowed to because of the law, Bondurant said.
Know what the state's lawyer said?
The voters might have just decided that, because Barrack Obama overwhelmingly won the Democratic primary and Mike Huckabee handily won the Republican primary, they may not have wanted to go to the trouble to cast votes in elections where the outcome was no longer in question. Also, Cohen suggested, some of those voters may not have been who they said they were in the first place.
(emphasis added)
Might as well accuse the victims whose rights you're stealing of being thieves. Have a little smoke with your mirrors. "Anyway, who cares why people like that don't vote? Please don't confuse me with, you know, compassion, intelligence, and fairness. They're not my long suit."
These people are pathetic excuses for human beings, and frankly, I'm beginning to believe they may be clinically insane. I can't think of any other way to explain their bizarre inability to connect with any homo sapien who makes less than $$1MIL$$ a minute.
A lot of states are requiring that photo id is also proof of the voter's address. No more photo id plus a utility bill kind of business. Nevermind that some people might not even have a new address because they're not back on their feet from the foreclosure. Don't citizens have some kind of RIGHT to vote? I guess not if it's inconvenient for the judge to allow. I mean we wouldn't want "disarray"!
Posted by: vwclown | July 12, 2008 at 02:35 AM