Meet Peggy
the story of 97-year-old Peggy Cobb of Sandy Springs, as related in an email from her son Bill:
——————-
“I now have a crystal clear, visceral understanding of why some politicians think voter ID laws are so important. The suppressive power of this law to deter people from voting is far greater than I realized. Meet my mother.
She is 97, in good health and with virtually all her marbles (bad hearing loss, though), living an active, independent life in Sandy Springs. She moved here four years ago or so. Had one knee replaced a couple years ago.
Peggy has voted in every presidential election since she was eligible, and most if not all others, too. She pays attention to this stuff more than a lot of people I know. She insists, often with me chafing, on hearing the other side.
She has a Fulton County voter registration card and has voted in every election when she’s been here. Her expired Indiana driver’s license used to be enough ID at the polling booth. No more.
But all she had to do was go to a driver’s services office, show the necessary documents, and get her Georgia Voter ID. Some waiting. No fees. Great deal.
So Peggy gathered up her voter registration card, some utility bills, bank statements, rent receipts and tax returns and went to Driver Services. They said “Great, you have everything you need. Except a birth certificate.”
She went back home and eventually figured out how to order a birth certificate from Minnesota, where she was born and married. Six weeks later, it arrived. Peggy returned to Drivers Services very enthusiastic, since the election was only a couple weeks off. They said “Great, you have everything you need, except the last name on your birth certificate isn’t the same as on all these other documents.”
Well of course not, she got married in 1943. What else could that middle initial “V” stand for except her maiden name, Vanstrom?
No Georgia voter ID card for Peggy without a marriage certificate.
I rarely ever see my mother near tears, but I did then. Some combination of rage and foreboding maybe. Luckily, the Minnesota county that has her marriage certificate is very user friendly. They even do same day turn-around and overnight delivery, if you pay for it. Time was short. $53. But UPS screwed up and misdelivered it, so Minnesota sent another one (no charge) to my house. My wife and I made sure one of us was home all day to sign for it.
Yesterday, back to Drivers Services. A friend drove her. They said, “Great, you have everything you need, except your Social Security number doesn’t match our system. Sorry, no exceptions.”
The friend, who had only bargained for lunch really, drove Peggy home to search for more papers with her Social Security number on it, then drove her to a Social Security office in Marietta. The agent could find nothing amiss, and gave her some papers.
Drivers Services finally relented and gave Peggy a Georgia voter ID yesterday, 5 days before the election. What would she have done without that determined friend?
You probably can’t truly appreciate the physical and emotion toll this ordeal has taken on Peggy. She definitely can’t believe it.
“Why is Georgia doing this to me! Do they want me not to be here? I thought government was supposed to make voting as simple as possible. I don’t understand it!”
I explained the reason for Georgia’s anti-fraud requirements with a joke I heard a long time ago. It begins with a guy standing around contantly snapping his fingers.
“Why are you doing that?” someone asked.
“I’m keeping the elephants away.”
“What? There’s never been an elephant within a thousand miles of here!”
“See, it’s working.”
The reality, of course, is much more mean-spirited and pernicious. Peggy got the joke right away. But she’s still not happy. It’s not funny. At all.
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/11/03/peggys-story-the-cruel-cynicism-of-the-voter-id-crusade/
= new reply since forum marked as read
