Someone mentioned Alabama and Louisiana. These states and others have exceptions like birth certificates.

The Georgia and Indiana ID Laws are pending a legal challenge. I know in Georgia that the judge's injunction applies to the upcoming November elections.

One post said there wasn't a single motor vehicle place in Atlanta. THIS IS TRUE. Also, there are 159 counties and only 56 offices in the Department of Driver Services (DDS), probably known to other states as the DMV.

So, now you see the added burden of finding these places. Plus, I will tell you they are NOT free unless you swear under oath that you are indigent and cannot pay. Indigent is a vague term in this law and folks who are really indigent may not qualify because they do have $20 or $30 bucks.
There is also a hindrance for folks a little shy about swearing they cannot pay.

BUT, just to be upbeat, let's presume that a few people swear indigency and the fee is waived. Exciting, yes. But, these same folks had to pay for the required ID that DDS requires in order to get a photo ID. A little catch 22 coming here....hence the term POLL TAX.

So, somehow a potential voter was able to snag a certified copy of his/her birth certificate, but it took 4-10 weeks and cost up to $20. Now this all happens if the voter is young enough to remember which county they were born in and hopefully they were not born at home. This would require a whole different scenario.

DDS requires: original birth certificate, CERTIFIED copy of birth certificate, certified court records, certified naturalization records, Immigration ID card, and valid PASSPORT ($65 or more!).

H.B. 244 (Georgia ID Law) violates the "Civil Rights Act of 1964 (specifically 42 U.S.C. Section 1971(a)(2)(B)) because it applied different standards for voters who vote in person compare to those who vote by absentee ballot. The photo ID requirement also violates this same Act because it denies individuals who are fully qualified and lawfully registered the right to vote in person solely on whether or not they have a GOVERNMENT-issues ID.

Students who have photo IDs issued by PRIVATE colleges and universities (Emory, Morehouse, Mercer) will need another form of ID. Only IDs from GOVERNMENT-run schools will be accepted.

There are those folks who do not drive because they are POOR and do not own a vehicle. An estimated 152,000 Georgians who voted in 2004 were over the age of 60 ("the ELDERLY). Many others are impaired, visually or physically, living in retirement or nursing homes and do not have driver's licenses.

H.B. also violates the 14th and 24th Amendments because it treats voters unequally and imposes a Poll Tax on the right to vote.

H.B. also violates the "Georgia Constitution" because it creates an "entirely new set of voting qualifications beyond those specified in the State Constitution...."

None of this has to be done for absentee voters which is the very area there might be fraud (although Cathy Cox, Secretary of State/Elections Division said this fraud hardly exists), and also the opponents justification for such a draconian restriction is ABSENTEE FRAUD. Is this making any sense?

I say let's concentrate on those Electronic Voting Machines from Diebold. Where is the accountability ? Deja vu Bush elections all over again. WHERE IS THE PAPER TRAIL ?

I know it's hard to keep up with all the "details" of ID Laws. You may want to check out:
http://www.votingrights.org
http://www.naacp.org
and the ACLU.

Just thought I'd share this with you since I lived in Virginia for 25 years and am now in Brunswick, Georgia working for a mayoral campaign.

Common Cause ran a full page ad in the NYTimes this week asking if we would use an ATM that didn't give us paper proof. I emailed them and said, "No, and I wouldn't bank at a bank that didn't ask for ID either".

... That was sarcasm, right?