Georgia State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) said Monday that a Republican colleague is holding up Voter ID legislation that Byrd said will help prevent fraud in the state.
That legislation, if enacted into law, would require non-U.S. citizens to have “BEARER NOT A U.S. CITIZEN — NOT VOTER ID” printed on their licenses, permits and/or identification cards.
Byrd told The Georgia Star News that State Rep. Bonnie Rich (R-Suwanee) is working to block Byrd’s legislation in a Special Committee on Election Integrity subcommittee.
The bill dies for the year if Rich’s efforts are successful.
“I thought the bill was going well,” Byrd said.
“There were many people who signed onto the bill, and certainly anytime I have presented it at coffees in my district and sent it off to other areas, they seem to be quite supportive of it.”
Rich declined a phone interview Monday and instead emailed a statement saying that the Elections Integrity Committee chairman “sets the agenda for all sub-committees, not I.”
State Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) chairs the Special Committee on Election Integrity.
Rich went on to say that she does not think that Fleming “is incorrect for not setting down Rep. Byrd’s bill for a hearing in sub-committee.”
“Rep. Byrd’s bill does not add to election integrity, as the people she targets are not registered to vote,” Rich said.
“Her proposal would therefore be superfluous.”
Byrd said Rich emailed the same statement to her.
“I found her email rather odd since Fleming told me I should ask for a committee hearing before Representative Rich,” Byrd said.
Byrd’s legislation would also require that state officials update Department of Motor Vehicles records and information for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s RIDE program. RIDE works to enhance the integrity of the E-Verify program using the most commonly presented identity documents.
Byrd said she suspects certain special interests in Georgia’s business community are trying to kill her legislation. The Georgia Star News plans to contact those special interests Tuesday.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
