NATION IN BRIEF

Voter-ID Challenge Is Thrown Out in Georgia

ATLANTA -- The Georgia Supreme Court threw out a challenge Monday to the state's voter-identification law but sidestepped a decision on the law's validity by ruling that the plaintiff lacked legal standing to challenge it.

The court's unanimous opinion reversed a decision in September by Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford, who ruled that the law is unconstitutional and an undue burden on voters. After that ruling, the State Election Board decided not to require voters to show a photo ID to cast a ballot in the November elections.

The law's supporters, most of them Republicans, say it is needed to prevent voter fraud and to preserve the integrity of the electoral system. Opponents say the law will disenfranchise minorities, the poor and the elderly who do not have a driver's license or other valid government-issued photo ID.

Monday's ruling, written by Justice Harold Melton, said that plaintiff Rosalind Lake was not harmed by the ID law and lacked standing to challenge it because she was exempt as a first-time voter.

At the federal level, U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy struck down an earlier version of the law in 2005, saying that it amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax. The legislature addressed his complaints in a subsequent version, but he blocked the law again in September, saying the bill is not in the public's interest. An appeal is pending.

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