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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Georgia Mailing Misleads Voters on Voter ID

A Georgia voter identification law was banned, yet the State Election board mailed out letters to voters informing them that they may need to show either a free Georgia voter identification card or a form of photo ID to vote in person. State Election Board Vice Chair McIver was under the impression that the mailing went out to 20,000, while the contents of the letter remained to be false, he became more concerned after finding out that in fact 200,000 voters received the letter. Now lawyers are asking that a judge force the state to send out new letters that clarify that the identification rule will not be in place for this upcoming election.

"The letter was always intended as an education piece and is not confusing in any way," McIver said. "Despite the fact that the numbers are different, I would still have allowed the letters to go because it describes how you can get a free ID if you want one and that you can vote absentee by mail with no identification whatsoever - two real important pieces about voting."

And In Missouri

On Monday the Missouri state Supreme Court struck down the voter identification law that would have required voters to show a photo ID card at the polls starting with the election in November. The justices said that the law imposed too great of a burden on the voting rights of legitimate voters. The AP story can be read here.