As an American citizen, I believe my right to vote is the most important right guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. That’s why I was outraged last week when a liberal judge from Atlanta threw out Georgia's photo identification law just before the July 18^th Primary Election.

The law had been ruled unconstitutional last year because it required people to pay for the picture IDs, which would be a major problem for the poor, elderly, disabled and minority voters. So, the legislature changed the law earlier this year making the IDs free. Provisions were also made for people without transportation.

Well, those changes didn’t seem to impress Fulton County Superior Court Judge Melvin Westmoreland. He still found that the photo ID requirement placed “a restrictive condition on the right of a citizen to vote.”

Give me a break! Even the poor, disabled, elderly and minorities have to show IDs to purchase certain items or cash checks. But for some reason, it’s an onerous burden for them to prove who they are when they go to vote?

The primary opponents to the new photo ID law are liberals and Democrats, including Secretary of State Cathy Cox and former Governor Roy Barnes (also known as “King Roy.”) They claim that hundreds of thousands of people will be shut out of the election process.

However, the dirty little secret is that Democrats are losing so many voters due to their increasingly liberal positions, they are turning to voter fraud and intimidation to make up the difference.

Don’t believe me? Read this comprehensive 2005 report from the non-partisan, non-profit American Center for Voting Rights. The group investigated hundreds of allegations of voter fraud, voter registration fraud and voter suppression in the 2004 election. The report documented proven voter fraud and suppression by Democrats in 16 states, primarily the so-called “swing” states important to the outcome of the presidential election. It makes pretty interesting reading.

Now some people argue that there is no need for voter fraud law in Georgia because there have been no charges of voter fraud here. Perhaps not recently, but since I’ve only lived here two years, I can't verify that voter fraud hasn't occurred in the past. That doesn't mean, however, it won’t be tried in the future.

After all, in just four years the Democrats have lost their lock on Georgia state government. They just might be tempted to recruit illegal aliens, convicted felons and even dead people to make up their loss in the electoral base. They sure haven't been bashful about trying it in Florida, Alabama, Washington, Ohio, Wisconsin, etc.

Even putting that possibility aside, I believe all American citizens' right to vote in a fair, non-fraudulent election is sacred and must be protected. It makes me boil to think that my vote could be cancelled out by a fraudulent vote.

I used to live in Washington State where, in 2004, massive voter fraud stole an election from the Republican candidate for governor. A friend of mine who still lives there asked me, “why should I even vote anymore if it’s not going to count?”

Fortunately, Republican Governor Sonny Perdue is fighting the ruling and will take it to a higher court. So far, a similar law in Indiana has survived court challenges. So perhaps common sense will prevail in Georgia’s case. Stranger things have happened.