Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8A
- FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, February 15, T
New voter ID law will make elections safer
By Lewis Massey
Secretary of State
' • ■ .
More Georgians are registered
and voting than ever before. The
“motor voter” program, which
began in 1995, has increased the
voter roll in our state by more
than one million citizens.
That’s good news for our rep
resentative democracy. But
along with this huge increase in
registration came increased
opportunities for election fraud.
How? The new mail-in regis
tration meant that the identity
and residence of many new reg
istrants could not be verified. In
some states, a few gadfly jour
nalists and election reformers
illustrated the problem and
grabbed headlines —by regis
tering dogs, cats and even the
deceased.
The Georgia Vote
Commission, a citizens panel I
convened last year to study
improvements in election law,
joined me in devising a solu
tion. We sought a change that
would protect the rights of
every citizen to participate
while insuring that only eligible
and properly registered citizens
cast votes.
Last session the General
Assembly passed and the gover
nor signed a new voter ID law
that took effect on Jan. 1, 1998.
Under its provisions, poll
workers are required to ask
each voter for identification
before issuing them a ballot.
The law also establishes 14
approved forms of ID that can
be used. They are, a valid:
>- Georgia driver’s license
- Social Security card
- Military ID card
- Hunting or fishing license
- U. S. passport
- Student ID with photo
- State or federal ID
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- Private employer ID with
photo
-Government employer ID
with photo
-Georgia license to carry a pis
tol
-Pilot’s license
-Certified copy of birth certifi
cate
-Certified naturalization docu
mentation, or
-Certified copies of court
records showing adoption or
name change.
Any one of these documents is
sufficient under the law. If, for
some reason, a voter cannot
produce valid ID, he or she will
be permitted to vote if they sign
an oath confirming they are the
person listed on the voter’s list,
and that they understand that
misrepresenting one’s identity
is a felony under Georgia law.
The ID requirement will
require significant changes in
procedures at every election
precinct in Georgia. My office
is working with county election
officials to insure that every
poll worker is properly trained
on the law’s provisions.
We also plan a public educa
tion campaign to help prevent
delays at the polls on election
day. It is our hope that if voters
are made aware of the new
requirement in advance we can
minimize confusion and long
lines at the polls.
Following are some commonly
asked questions about the law
and election procedures for
1998.
Q: Can I use a voter registra
tion card as my ID?
A: A voter registration card is
not one of the 14 approved
forms of identification. Because
of the potential for fraudulent
mail-in registration, lawmakers
did not include voter cards on
the list.
GOVERNMENT
Q: If the address on my ID
and my voting address are dif
ferent, may I still vote?
A: Yes. There is no require
ment that the ID have the same
address as your registration.
The law takes into account that
many of us carry identification
with an outdated address.
Q: Why not require a photo
ID of everyone?
A: Many of the elderly and
disabled do not have driver’s
licenses or photo ID’s.
Lawmakers did not want to
unduly burden any qualified
voter. Hawaii is the only state
in the nation that requires a
photo ID to vote.
Q: I’m disabled and vote
absentee. Will I have to go to
the courthouse and show ID
before receiving a ballot?
A: No. The absentee voting
process is safeguarded by veri
fying your signature against
registration records. This was
not changed under the law.
Q: What are the dates of the
1998 elections?
A: The primary will be held
July 21. The primary runoff is
scheduled for Aug. 11. The
general election will be held
Nov. 3. All elections are held
on Tuesday.
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Georgia vets to share more than
sl6 million in insurance dividends
During 1998, more than sl6
million in dividends will be paid
to over 41,400 Georgia veterans
still holding active veterans’ life
insurance policies.
Georgia Commissioner of
Veterans Affairs Pete Wheeler
said the dividends will be credit
ed automatically <o policyhold
ers on the 1998 anniversary date
of their policies. Policyholders
may choose to receive a divi
dend check or select one of nine
alternate payment options.
Wheeler cautions veterans that
only policies that have been kept
in force will receive an annual
dividend distribution. He said
that an individual’s dividend
amount will vary according to
age, type of insurance and dura
tion of the policy.
Government life insurance
policies were issued to veterans
of World Wars I and II and the
Korean Conflict who served
between 1917 and 1956.
Veterans of subsequent eras are
covered by government insur-
ance programs that do not pay
dividends.
The largest group of Georgia
veterans receiving payments
will be the 35,299 veterans of
World War II with National
Service Life Insurance (“V”)
policies who will receive an
average payment of $409. Total
payments are expected to reach
more that $14.4 million.
Dividends totaling over
$84,000 will be paid to 398
Georgians, mostly World War I
veterans, holding U.S.
Government Life Insurance
(“K”) policies.
The 4,383 Georgia veterans
who maintained their Veterans
Special Life Insurance (“RS and
“W”) will share approximately
$1.9 million in dividends.
Payments totaling $443,000
will be paid to 1,352 Georgia
veterans holding Veterans
Reopened Insurance policies
(“J”, “JR” and “JS”).
Although VA also administers
a special life insurance program
for disabled veterans and a pro
gram offering mortgage life
insurance coverage, neither pays
dividends. Dividends are also
not paid for active-duty service
members and reservists holding
Servicemen’s Group Life
Insurance.
Rumors have recently surfaced
that Congress has approved a
special dividend or refunds for
holders of SGLI. These reports
are false.
“This is a hoax that has
plagued VA for 40 years,”
Commissioner Wheeler stated.
“Congress has proposed no
legislation to change the divi
dend payments. VA’s legitimate
insurance dividends are paid
annually automatically—no
application is required,” he
added.
Veterans who have questions
about their policy may call the
VA Insurance Center toll free at
(800) 669-8477 or e-mail their
question to:
VAinsurance@vba.va.gov.