Day 25 - Deja Vu all over again

It was another marathon debate in the Senate March 3 when Democrats offered spirited and near unanimous opposition to a bill by the author of the 2005 Voter ID bill. This time it was a bill that would require proof of citizenship at time of registration. SB 86 is said by sponsor Cecil Staton (R-Macon) to "just prevent fraud" and voting by illegal aliens. But in close to three hours of debate, no one spoke in favor of the bill except Staton. Same old claims that the "potential" for "illegals" voting outweighed the disenfranchishment of those who cannot produce or cannot afford to track down the paperwork necessary to satify the voter registration requirements. Nevermind that no examples of anyone voting illegally exists. Nevermind that no non-citizen, who might be undocumented, is likely to rush down to register to vote and thus turn themselves in for deportation. Nevermind that African Americans, the elderly, the disabled and those born at home will have a heck of a time producing papers the state would require. Putting up barriers that actually discourage voting is not preventing fraud, it's voter suppression. Republican Senators silently sat through the impassioned reasoning and still voted as a block to prevent a "problem" for which no actual case exists. More about this later, the House is expect to vote on it's version of this same scheme (HB 45) later today.