Is requiring a government-issued photo ID to vote a "poll tax?"

That's what some "voting and civil rights groups" in Georgia say. They have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Georgia law that requires voters to show a government-issued photo ID in order to vote. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Voting and civil rights groups launched a legal assault Monday on the state's requirement that Georgians show a government-issued photo ID at the polls — a law they call the most restrictive of its kind in the country.

That statement is not entirely accurate, in that the photo ID doesn't necessarily have to be presented at the polls. According to this UPI article:

A voter without a photo ID could cast a provisional ballot, but under current Georgia law he or she would have to present an ID within 48 hours to qualify as an official voter.

The AJC's omission isn't really a big deal, though. Continuing with the Journal-Constitution story:

A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of two African American voters, the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP, League of Women Voters, black legislators and others calls the new law a "poll tax" that will rob black, elderly and rural people of their right to vote...

The law, which went into effect earlier this year after approval by the Legislature and Gov. Sonny Perdue, requires voters to show one of six forms of government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license. Previously, Georgians could show one of 17 forms, including a Social Security card or utility bill...

"The new photo ID requirement ... imposes an unnecessary and undue burden on the exercise of the fundamental right to vote on hundreds of thousands of citizens of Georgia who are fully eligible, registered and qualified to vote, but who do not have Georgia driver's licenses, passports, or employer ID cards or other forms of photographic identification issued by the state or federal government," according to the lawsuit.

The suit cited Secretary of State Cathy Cox's testimony that during her nine years in office, she has not documented a case of voter fraud at the polls by people pretending to be someone they are not.

The lawsuit also alleges that requiring Georgians to pay for a state identification card constitutes a poll tax that is outlawed under the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In addition to the $20 to $35 fee for an ID card, there are also travel costs associated with getting an ID card, since only 56 of Georgia's 159 counties offer them at Department of Driver Services offices.

This is where Georgia could get in trouble.

According to Black's Law Dictionary, a "poll tax" is defined as: "a capitation tax; a tax of a specific sum levied upon each person within the jurisdiction of the taxing power and within a certain class...without reference to his property or lack of it," or alternately, as "a tax upon the privilege of being; it is a sum levied upon persons without regard to property, occupation, income or ability to pay."

The 24th Amendment states that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice-President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."

The big question here is whether the Georgia law violates the 24th Amendment. It appears to me that it does, since it states that only a citizen "who swears under oath that he or she is indigent and cannot pay the fee for an identification card" is entitled to vote.

I imagine that there are a number of people in Georgia who could afford to pay a reasonable fee to get an acceptable ID card, but who would be unwilling to do so. The new law would prevent those people from voting, based solely on their refusal to pay money to the state. Assuming that a "fee" is properly interpreted as a form of "tax" under the original understanding of the 24th Amendment, it seems clear to me that this particular law's voter-ID requirement is unconstitutional.

I strongly support strengthening voter identification requirements as a deterrent to fraud, but by requiring citizens to pay a tax in order to vote, the Georgia law goes too far. Even if it is upheld in court (which I doubt it will be), the Georgia legislature should act to ensure that all citizens who want to vote and who are otherwise qualified can obtain the requisite ID without having to pay for it directly via a specific tax or fee.