As the Washington Post reported recently, the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has lost or reassigned over 20 percent of its career staff since the Bush administration came to office. These professional attorneys and research assistants are unhappy with the way Justice political appointees are running the Division. Many decisions have not only taken America back to a pre-civil rights era, but have attempted to gut the country’s bipartisan civil rights laws. 

Georgia’s Voter ID Law

The Republican controlled Georgia legislature passed House Bill 244, sponsored by Representative Sue Burmeister, last year. Governor Perdue signed it into law. It is the most restrictive voter ID law in any of the states required to submit these type laws for review. Georgia is one of a few southern states that, because of past discrimination, must get Justice Department approval (called preclearance) on all laws that affect minorities. A Federal Court Judge in Rome declared that Georgia's ID law is unconstitutional because it’s tantamount to a poll tax. He issued an injunction against the law. A three-judge appellate panel (2 Republican appointees and one Democrat) upheld the lower court’s injunction.

As reported November 17 in the Washington Post, which obtained the 54-page decision memorandum on Georgia’s law and posted it on its website, career staff attorneys and analysts in the Civil Rights Division strongly recommended disapproving Georgia’s voter ID law by a 4 to 1 margin. After the memo was forwarded for approval, it only took one day for Republican appointees to disapprove it and forward their favorable decision to Republicans in Georgia. The fix was in. Solid work by staff in the Civil Rights Division was trashed in an instant.

It is unfortunate in this day and time that, in order to preserve everyone’s right to vote, we must once again take action with a lengthy court challenge. As the Justice Department’s internal memorandum shows, Georgia’s voter ID law cannot stand a legal challenge. Citizens of Georgia must also challenge at the ballot box those representatives who would attempt to disenfranchise black voters.

The main culprit, Sue Burmeister, is paraphrased in the Justice Department’s memorandum. Amazingly, Burmeister misled the Justice Department by telling career staff studying this issue that Governor Perdue was going to put a Department of Driver Services office in each of the state’s 159 counties. She also told Justice that all Kroger grocery stores in Georgia had facilities that could issue drivers licenses. These two claims by Burmeister were quickly checked out and debunked by Civil Rights Division employees. There is no such Republican legislative attempt to put DDS in all Georgia counties and DDS discontinued issuing licenses at selected Kroger stores in 2003.

Burmeister also told Justice another interesting thing. From page 6 of the internal memo: “Rep. Burmeister said that if there are fewer black voters because of this bill, it will only be because there is less opportunity for fraud. She said that when black voters in her black precincts are not paid to vote, they do not go to the polls.” So, if there is not a chance to commit fraud, then individual black voters in the state just stay home!

Had enough of these Republicans? I have. Let’s work to get them out of office.

Contact Craig K. Allen