As Republican lawmakers in Georgia work to pass voting reforms, including requiring photo identification in order to vote absentee, the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives wants to make the identification cards free.
Today, David Ralston proposed that State ID cards through the Georgia Department of Driver Services be free to all eligible Georgians. Currently, the state assesses a $32 fee for State ID cards.
Similar in form to driver’s licenses, State ID cards are compliant with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s REAL ID standard and may be used for voter identification among other purposes. Georgia already offers a free voter photo identification, but that document may only be used for voting.
“I am committed to eliminating barriers to voting for all legally eligible Georgians,” Ralston said. “We have heard from Georgians who are concerned about fees associated with obtaining a voter identification. While Georgia already offers a free voter ID, this State ID card is more useful and will make it easier for Georgians to not only vote, but use the ID to open a checking account or show identification to a TSA agent at an airport.”
TOO MANY ADS? GO AD-FREE
Did You Know?: The ads you see on this site help pay for our website and our work. However, we know some of our readers would rather pay and not see ads. For those users we offer a paid newsletter that contains our articles with no ads.
What You Get: A daily email digest of our articles in full-text with no ads.
State ID cards are one of many types of identification cards and licenses obtained through the Georgia Department of Driver Services.
You can learn more about obtaining a State ID card through the DDS website at https://dds.georgia.gov/how-do-i-id-card.