DOJ opposes Georgia voter screening

ATLANTA, June 1 (UPI) -- Georgia's voter citizenship screening system is inaccurate and unfair because it hits minorities disproportionately, the U.S. Justice Department says.

WALB-TV in Albany, Ga., reported Monday the federal department sent a letter to Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, saying the program puts an undue burden on blacks, Hispanics and Asians to prove their citizenship when trying to vote.

Attorney Maurice King Jr. agreed with the ruling, telling WALB-TV the checks aren't necessary because it's already against the law to lie when registering to vote.

Elections Supervisor Ginger Nickerson said the Justice Department finding hurts the state's ability to verify whether voters are citizens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday.

"Now you just go on the voter's word, they complete on the application, you don't have a means to check and balance to make sure the information is accurate ...," she said.

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel told the newspaper the ruling means the state could be inundated with non-qualified voters.

U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., called the ruling "so transparently political that I'd hate to be the person at the department who had to put the right spin on this junk."

But Jon Greenbaum of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law didn't see it that way.

"Preventing these procedures from going into effect will prevent Secretary Handel from keeping many thousands of eligible Georgia voters off the rolls," Greenbaum said.