ATLANTA (AP) -- A federal judge denied a request by voting rights groups to stop Georgia from asking new voters to prove their identities and citizenship, saying Thursday that halting the checks could harm the integrity of the November election.
What the H E L L is wrong with verifying that someone is legal to vote? Good God!!!!!! (XXX) (XXX) (XXX) I have no problem with that. The last time I voted a local lawyer came in and he pitched a walleyed hissy fit because they wouldnt let him vote without some proof of who he was. He started hollering and saying you know who I am, I mean he made a complete azz out of himself. The young lady stood her ground and said Im sorry you are going to have to provide some identification before you can vote. He was rude and obnoxious saying, "You mean I am going to have to walk back over to the Court house and get my billford?", she said you are going to have to provide some form of identification. He was a complete JERK!!!!!! Why does anyone have a problem with someone providing proof of who they are before they vote?!!!!
The groups argued in a lawsuit filed last week that the checks, which involve matching the applications with driver's license and Social Security data, amount to a "systematic purging" of rolls just weeks before the Nov. 4 election.
The lawsuit also said the checks must first be approved by the Department of Justice.
But U.S. District Judge Jack Camp said halting the immigration screenings of applicants could lead to "significant voter confusion" and could prevent the state from removing fraudulent voters from its rolls.
The judge said the groups may still press their case before a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court in a hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The hearing before the three-judge panel is required under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Georgia is also among several states with a history of discriminatory voting practices that must get federal approval before changing election policy under the federal law.
The lawsuit was filed by several voting and immigration groups, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Phone calls to the group's attorneys were not immediately returned.
The lawsuit centers on Jose Morales, who became a U.S. citizen in November 2007 and registered to vote last month. Two weeks after the college student registered, he received a letter from Cherokee County that demanded he provide evidence of his citizenship, according to the complaint.
He received his voting card soon after he showed his passport to the registrar's office, but last week another letter asked him to again verify his citizenship and warned him his name could be removed if he did not.
Voting rights attorneys said the letters were an intimidation tactic, and urged the judge to halt them immediately. They said the same tactics had been used throughout Georgia, but didn't provide an estimate of how many voters could have been affected.
But Secretary of State Karen Handel, a Republican, said the checks were made to ensure the integrity of the vote.
In his 12-page ruling on Thursday, Camp suggested it was too late to overhaul the state's election policy.
"While the public has an interest in enforcing acts of Congress ... the public also has a significant interest in preserving the integrity of the election process," he wrote.
Blocking the checks, he wrote, would mean that "local registrars will have no practical means of identifying which registrants are not citizens, and the mere possibility of fraudulent voting could damage the public's respect for the electoral process."
Handel, who has argued the state was following federal election law, said she was relieved by the ruling.
"I am very pleased with Judge Camp's decision and view this as a victory for protecting the integrity of Georgia's elections," Handel said.
