ATLANTA – Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law Thursday Senate Bill 84, legislation requiring the Board of Registrar office in each county to issue photo identification cards for voting purposes, free of charge. The bill passed the State Senate 32-22 and the State House 111-60.
“We believe that every qualified Georgia citizen should have easy access to cast a ballot,” said Gov. Perdue. “This legislation ensures that every Georgian who does not already have proper identification can get a voter identification card at no cost.”
Under SB84, voter identification cards will be available free of charge for any Georgian in all 159 counties throughout the state. Voter identification cards are also available through the Department of Driver Services (DDS) Customer Services Centers, as well as the DDS mobile licensing bus.
When asked for an example of real-life voter fraud in Georgia, Gov. Perdue referenced an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article from Nov. 6, 2000, titled ‘Even death can’t stop some voters; Records: Illegally cast ballots not rare.’ The article stated the following:
Alan Jay Mandel of Atlanta, always a patriotic man, believed in the power of the ballot box. The former owner of the Tinder Box, a well-known Lenox Square tobacco shop, Mandel conscientiously exercised his right to vote in March 1997 and the following July and November. Mandel’s last three votes are particularly noteworthy because they were cast after his death. He died of congestive heart failure in January 1997, two months before the first of those elections.
"He (Secretary of State Cathy Cox spokesman) said his office would look into the case of Mandel, the tobacco shop owner, whose voter certificate was signed at the polls by someone after his death. Making false statements on a voter certificate is a felony," Riggall said.