A brief history for the uninformed. Earlier this year the Georgia legislature passed the notorious voter ID law, which earned Georgia the distinction of having the strictest voting law in the country. Woo! We're #1! In late October, the 11th Circuit upheld an injunction preventing the law from going into effect for the November elections.
Because Georgia has such an abysmal history in regards to voting rights (Jim Crow, anyone?), the DOJ requires pre-clearance of any changes made that will be impact voting rights (i.e., requirements to vote, redistricting). Earlier this month, it came to light that
a memo from the DOJ found that the law would, in fact, hurt black voters. See
Drew's diary on the DOJ playing politics. But more scandalous were the comments allegedly made by Republican Representative Sue Burmeister.
The memo, leaked to The Washington Post, went on to state: "Rep. Burmeister said that if there are fewer black voters because of this bill, it will only be because there is less opportunity for fraud. She said that when black voters in her black precincts are not paid to vote, they do not go to the polls."
Burmeister said Thursday that the memo's record of what she said "was more accurate than not," but added: "That sounds pretty harsh. I don't remember saying those exact words."
She reportedly related a story that former black mayor Ed McIntyre offered to sell her votes. She, of course, denies making any such statements. As you can imagine, this unleashed a furor.
Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement, derided Burmeister's remarks.
"It's unbelievable that any elected official would say something like this. It doesn't have any, any merit," Lewis said. "This is an affront to every black voter and would-be black voter not just in my district but in the state of Georgia."
The local Democratic Party in Burmeister's district held a press conference requesting her immediate resignation. (Note: She was planning on retiring after May anyway.) And the AJC's Cynthia Tucker called her a racist.
But what if she was right? Grady Abrams, former city councilman and the first black man to make a run for mayor in Burmeister's district, says that Burmeister is correct about vote buying. From this morning's letter to the editor:
It is true. That practice was, and still is, alive and well in certain segments of the community. I say shame on black leaders that participated and continue to do so in this regrettable activity.
When I ran for city council in 1968, there were two black political organizations financed by white political bosses for the sole purpose of getting out the black vote to support the candidates and/or issues of their choice, not necessarily ours. White bosses were wrong for creating this practice, and black leaders were wrong for being willing participants.
First, it is quite silly that Republicans are using vote buying as evidence in support of the voter ID law. Having an ID does not prevent someone from paying me to vote for a certain candidate. Second, and more importantly, does it matter that Burmeister's statements turned out to be true?