July 9, 2006
 
COMMENTARY: Activist Judge Allows Illegal Aliens, Dead Folks and Felons to Vote
 
By Jim Kouri
Special to HNN
 
In a previous column, I mentioned how the deliciously wicked, funny and witty political columnist and best-selling author Ann Coulter once wrote that when liberals pass by a graveyard, they see potential voters. My response to Coulter's statement was that when liberals see hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens swarming over our unprotected borders, they see potential voters.
 
I also alleged in my article that an added bonus for the liberal-left is that these illegal aliens can't speak English and are ripe for indoctrination by the Democrat Party's Hispanic overseers within the "liberal plantation."
 
Whether he agrees or not, Superior Court Judge Melvin Westmoreland's ruling that, Georgia's law requiring voters to show identification is unconstitutional, is allowing illegal aliens, felons and dead folks to continue voting in Georgia.
 
The judge struck down a newly enacted law that requires Georgia voters to present government-issued photo identification cards before they are allowed to cast a ballot.
 
He said the requirement violated the State Constitution by placing an undue burden on the fundamental right to vote.
 
Although the Georgia legislature passed the requirement, Judge Westmoreland said such a change would require citizens to approve an amendment to the State Constitution, which now stipulates that voters must be 18 years old, mentally competent and state residents.
 
The judge's temporary injunction was in response to a legal challenge against the requirement filed by former Gov. Roy Barnes. A rabidly partisan-Democrat Barnes argued that the requirement would make it harder for minorities, the elderly and the poor to vote, although he's never explained how presenting an ID card before voting would create any hardships for voters unless they are captured with fake ID and attempting to vote illegally.
 
Government officials immediately vowed to appeal the ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court. Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, who signed the measure into law earlier this year, said it was needed to ensure the integrity of elections in the state.
 
"The sad fact is that dead people have cast votes in Georgia and -- before this law is implemented -- there was no way to tell how many deceased voters, felons or even illegal aliens may have been casting ballots in Georgia elections," Mr. Perdue said in a press statement issued on Friday.
 
The law also faces a challenge in federal court, where a consortium of left-wing groups have sued the state on the grounds that it's actions also violates the United States Constitution.
 
Since the Voter ID law passed in March 2005, the law has been an issue of contention between the legislators and the judges, with lawmakers struggling to find a way to put the measure into effect without violating federal or state voter protections.
 
The legislation's first version required voters to have a driver's license or other government ID, or to buy a special state card.
 
That law was struck down in October by a federal judge, who said the requirement that voters buy the card amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax.
 
The law was then rewritten by the Republican-led legislature to make the special Voter ID cards free. But the new version continued to draw strong criticism. Civil rights groups say those who lack a photo identification are more likely to be black or Hispanic, poor, or elderly — groups that traditionally cast their ballots for Democrat Party candidates.
 
"The law continues to impose an unnecessary burden on voters and does nothing to protect against fraud in voting," said Neil Bradley, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union Voting Rights Project in Atlanta.
 
Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat who oversees Georgia's elections and who is also vying for the Gov. Purdue's job, said there had not been a proven case of voter fraud in the state in nearly a decade.
 
Her office has estimated that some 676,000 otherwise eligible voters lack a driver's license or state-issued photo. While that may be true, it's not the fault of the state that some citizens refuse to apply for a bonafide identification cards or driver's licenses. As usual, the Democrats use hyperbole when attempting to move their agenda forward. Showing ID is hardly a hardship. An inconvenience to some people perhaps, but a hardship?
 
Without dwelling on the political implications of the law, Judge Westmoreland agreed with critics who said the legislature had pushed past constitutional protections in passing the measure.
 
Mr. Perdue said the state's appeal would rest on ballot security. "I respectfully disagree with Judge Westmoreland and believe that Georgia's law is not only constitutional, but a common sense, prudent protection of the election process," he said.
 
The restraining order means the law will not be in effect for the state's primaries on July 18, which is good news for Democrats who will now be allowed to continue their practice of busing illegal aliens, deadly people from local cemeteries and others to the polls.
 
The lawsuit was filed by the usual suspects: the NAACP, the ACLU, Common Cause Georgia and the League of Women Voters of Georgia. One of the attorneys, Jennifer Jordan, claimed in the lawsuit that the voter ID law is a Republican ploy to maintain political power by suppressing the poor, elderly, disabled and minority vote.
 
"We believe this voter ID requirement is putting another condition on the right to vote," Jordan said Wednesday. "Obviously it's going to disenfranchise somebody."
 
Someone will be disenfranchised, all right. American citizens are being disenfranchised from the own country by activist lawyers wearing black robes.
 
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Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations.
 
He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book, “Assume The Position,” is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri's own website is located at http://jimkouri.us