Voting Law

WaPo reported Today marks the 40th year of the Voting Rights Act, and civil rights activists poured into sticky-hot Atlanta for a march that harks back to the thunderous demonstrations and rallies that led to the act's signing on Aug. 6, 1965. But black, Hispanic and Asian American leaders who plan to link arms in front of the Georgia Capitol said this protest is no historic reenactment. They are fighting a law passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature in March that requires voters to obtain one of six forms of photo identification before going to the polls, as opposed to the 17 types of picture and non-picture ID they currently use. Georgia officials say the changes -- which experts say will make the state's screening measures the strictest in the nation -- are needed to prevent fraud.

Good for the Georgia state legislature. Photo ID cards should be required in all states to vote. I even think they should have to have at least two forms of ID. And when voter fraud is detected it should be punished severly.

The skirmish over the Georgia rules is a part of the continuing debate over the landmark voting rights legislation, which has boosted minority representation and altered the contours of American politics. At the time the law was enacted, there were three black members of Congress; today there are 43. There are also 25 Hispanic House members and one Hispanic senator, compared with five members of Congress in 1965....

One of those provisions, Section 5, requires states to draw minority-controlled congressional districts if black and Hispanic voters dominate certain residential areas.... Thernstrom and some other critics of the law also say that instead of fulfilling its intended purpose, it is now being used to create misshapen districts that herd minorities into a few areas while leaving adjacent districts overwhelmingly white, an action that has had the effect of helping Republicans.....

So the law requires gerrymandering to create a black district so a black can be elected, and now they complain that removes their chances of being elected in the resulting mainly white districts. That is why district lines should be done stricly by computers, programmed to get districts as compact as possible, and using major streets and/or other geographical boundaries as borders.

Rural black voters, many of whom are too poor to own cars, have said they can't get to one of the state's 56 driver's license offices to get a photo ID. Black legislators stormed out of chambers to protest the change.

The law provided 6 types of photo ID; drivers licenses are one one of the six