Free Republic

-snip- Governor Walker said he thinks the bill is misunderstood. "Reaction to that one is simply a reaction to a couple of local governments trying to issue IDs at the individual local level, as opposed to a state wide standard. I think most states, regardless if it's Wisconsin or anywhere else preferred to have a statewide standard in terms of a state wide ID that can be used for things like voting and things of that nature," said Walker. Governor Walker said he has not seen the bill on his desk yet. And when asked if he would sign it...

The Justice Department is objecting to a new photo ID law in Texas for voters, saying the state has failed to demonstrate that the the law is not discriminatory by design against Hispanic voters. The department's head of the civil rights division, Tom Perez, wrote a a six-page letter to Texas' director of elections saying that Texas has not "sustained its burden" under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act to show that the new law will not have a discriminatory effect on minority voters. About 11 percent of Hispanic voters reportedly lack state-issued identification. Perez wrote that while the...

ATLANTA — Advocacy groups including the NAACP (search), AARP (search) and League of Women Voters (search) have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new voter identification requirements. "Georgia passed an absolutely obnoxious law," said former President Jimmy Carter, who lives in the Peach State. "It was specifically designed to prevent old people, poor people and African-Americans from voting," he said. Carter co-chairs a private, bipartisan commission that last week recommended that every eligible voter in the United States receive a free, government photo ID card by 2010. He says Georgia's law is too restrictive.