AJC: Despite Voter ID Law, Minority Turnout Up In Georgia

September 4, 2012
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Source: Shannon McCaffrey / Atlanta Journal Constitution

When Georgia became one of the first states in the nation to demand a photo ID at the ballot box, both sides served up dire predictions. Opponents labeled it a Jim Crow-era tactic that would suppress the minority vote. Supporters insisted it was needed to combat fraud that imperiled the integrity of the elections process.

But both claims were overblown, according to a review of by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of statewide voting patterns in the five years since the law took effect.

Turnout among black and Hispanic voters increased from 2006 to 2010, dramatically outpacing population growth for those groups over the same period.

On the other hand, Georgia’s top elections official could not point to a single case of ballot fraud the voter ID law had prevented.

To read this article in its entirety visit the Atlanta Journal Constitution.