What could cause a group of African-American legislators to storm out of Georgia’s state Capitol last spring?

Had segregation been called back into practice?

Had slavery been re-instituted?

Had the Jim Crow laws resurfaced to become official amendments to the state constitution?

While none of these incidents actually took place, to members of the state legislature on that particular day, something nearly as ghastly did happen.

Last spring, Georgia passed a law which exempts citizens without proper identification from being able to vote.

“Proper identification,” which used to be recognized by 17 types of ID, including everything from Social Security cards to birth certificates, is now limited to just 6 different forms.

And in order to cast a ballot, this law requires that the ID include a photograph.

So to vote in Georgia, one needs either a drivers’ license or state-issued ID.

Republican lawmakers and Governor Sonny Perdue insist that this measure is being taken to prevent “voter fraud” in their state.

But what anyone can see is that this is a ploy by the GOP to disenfranchise the groups who vote for them the least – namely blacks, the elderly and the poor.

And it’s a smart one.

Statistics show that blacks are less likely than whites to possess a drivers’ license. They’re also less likely to have the means or the money to go get a state ID.

Because how do people who can’t drive transport themselves to one of the 58 motor vehicle offices in all of Georgia’s 159 counties where they can obtain that ID?

Let’s not forget that none of those locations exist in Atlanta, where a largely poor, African-American populace resides.

And how about the fact that a state ID costs $20 for a five-year card?

But if you want a ten-year card, the state will give it to you for the reduced price of $35.

Not everyone can fork over $35 at a time, or even $20 for that matter. But between the two, why should the person who can pay more up front get the discount?

Something just isn’t right about this new law.

Sure, it could prevent these minorities from voting if they can’t get a ride or come up with the cash, but there’s more to it than just that.

Even though Georgia passed this legislation months ago, it was only last week that the federal Justice Department approved it.

Because of Georgia’s shady past with suppressing the minority vote (i.e. poll taxes, literacy tests and the harassment of black voters in general), the Voting Rights Act of 1965 established that any modifications to state voting laws had to first pass through the Justice Department.

This voting law violates the same act which forces it through the Justice Department in the first place. The Voting Rights Act is supposed to assure that no one will be disenfranchised because of race, but that’s precisely what Georgia’s law accomplishes.

And our federal government will not even step in.

So not only is Georgia trying to legislate discrimination, but now the federal government is chiming in, saying, “Sounds good to us.”

But Governor Perdue and the Republican legislators of Georgia don’t even have a convincing motive. They argue that past problems with voter fraud led to the decision, but this is a flimsy cover.

Georgia’s secretary of state Cathy Cox said she had not stumbled across any recent cases of voter fraud.

According to Cox, the only route of ballot-casting which caused any such troubles were absentee forms – which ironically are more often submitted by Republicans than Democrats.

Yet the laws for casting absentee ballots remain unchanged.

Voter fraud just isn’t the big issue that it’s being made out to be. This legislation has nothing to do with ensuring the integrity of voting – it’s about blocking the votes that cause a shift in Republican power.

With portions of the Voting Rights Act expiring as soon as 2007, there’s no reason to think that other red states won’t soon follow suit with similar laws.

And what’s to stop them?

It’s not just the Voting Rights Act that this type of law violates – it also conflicts with Amendment 24 of the U.S. Constitution, since it subjects citizens to an unnecessary fee to vote.

By permitting such laws to take effect, the Justice Department has shown it will happily ignore a constitutional amendment if it means solidifying the Republican stronghold.

Organizations such as the NAACP and the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials have begun protesting and filing lawsuits, but to what avail?

This legislation – and the all the individuals who helped to pass it – has a message, and it’s loud and clear for those groups to hear:

You don’t have money or power.

There’s nothing you can do to change that.

We will never care what you think.

Send comments to Megan at [email protected]