Democratic Party Ninth District
Pete Thomas

The national Republican party has been guilty of voter "CAGING" to suppress Democratic voters which is illegal.

Voter "CAGING" most often targets poor people, military personnel, minorities, college students and the elderly Letters are mailed to the addresses of the voters with instructions to the postal service to NOT forward the letter and, if the letter is returned, then the voter may be removed from the voter lists or challenged at the polls and required to fill out a provisional ballot. The provisional ballots may never be counted.

In Georgia the GOP has been successful in having the voting law changed to require that every voter have valid voter identification or driver license with a picture ID. Backers of the new laws say they are aimed at curbing voter fraud. Secretary of State Karen Handel contends that voter fraud is a major problem in Georgia, yet has failed to produce evidence. The new statute could facilitate the controversial voter "CAGING" which the GOP attempted in Ohio and Florida in 2004 before public disclosures foiled the efforts, said Joseph Rich, a former Justice Department voting rights chief in the Bush administration.

As the high stakes election war escalates heading into next year's elections, Republicans have led the charge for an array of revisions to state voting rights laws. Georgia has moved to the forefront in having the election law revised as have state legislatures in Indiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Supreme Court agreed recently to consider a constitutional challenge to Indiana's ID law on grounds that it unfairly affects poor and elderly voters.

Another major change to Georgia election law pertains to absentee ballot filing. With the recent change any voter can now request an absentee ballot by checking the "no reason" box contained on the absentee ballot request form. No identification of any kind is required if a person is properly registered to vote. This change appears innocent, however changes to the rest of the Georgia Code has placed some strict penalties as stipulated in 21-2-385 which states, "no person shall assist more than ten such electors in any primary, election, or runoff in which there is no federal candidate on the ballot. Any person who willfully violates this subsection shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years or to pay a fine not to exceed $100,000.00 or both for each such violation." This change restricts the elderly, poor and minorities from having assistance in filing their absentee ballots and must be intended to stop those citizens that have previously assisted with such services.

Absentee ballots are a major target for voter fraud. The Board of Elections in each county can hold the ballots from mailing until just days before the election date and then mail the absentee ballots late which will prevent many voters from having the opportunity to vote. This violation is now under investigation in Georgia. Every senior citizen, minority, military personnel, college student and qualified democratic voter will have to monitor their status as a qualified voter before each election and ensure that they have not been "CAGED" and removed from their county voting files.