As I've mentioned in a number of recent posts, I think that one of the most important projects for the progressive youth community in the 111th Congress is the passage of major voter registration reform legislation.
As I've written many times in the past, voter turnout is about access, not apathy. There are no numbers yet for 2008, but in 2004, 81.6% of all registered 18 - 29 year olds voted. The problem is not that young people register than forget or abstain from voting; the problem is that, due to a variety of factors, young people are registered in far fewer numbers than older portions of the electorate.
Today, the Millennial generation is in a position to push for broad policy changes - on energy and climate issues, education issues, and more - thanks in large part to the massive youth turnout and their key role in electing President Obama. Retaining that power beyond one congressional session or Presidential term will require a repeat performance at the polls year in and year out. Reforming our voter registration laws and removing so many of the barriers that keep young Americans registered at low rates is key to solidifying this newfound political power. So I'm super excited to report that a coalition seems to be forming to push forward Voter Registration Modernization legislation during the current Congress.
In the new year, a case that will determine the state of American voting rights will be considered by the Supreme Court. Called "the most important voting rights case since Bush v. Gore" by the Brennan Center for Justice, Indiana's voter ID case (Crawford v. Marion County Elections Board) may throw a monkey wrench into getting eligible voters to cast ballots in the 2008 presidential election. The constitutionality of the nation's most restrictive voter identification law is under scrutiny by the country's highest court and more than two dozen scholars, advocates, and voting rights organizations have filed amicus briefs challenging the law in the hopes of expanding access to the ballot while still maintaining election integrity.
As the ranks of political appointees at the Department of Justice thin in shame over the historic politicization of law enforcement, one such official is flying under the radar towards a huge promotion. Until his recess appointment to the Federal Election Commission, Hans von Spakovsky filled a political post in the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. While he was there, he was the architect for shifting the Division away from its historic mission to enforce protections against minority voters and towards a partisan motivated witch hunt for phantom fraudulent voters. Throughout the DOJ, politics has trumped law enforcement in agenda setting, prosecutorial priorities and resource allocation but it was the Civil Rights Division and the section that handles voting rights that saw such a dramatic shift away from its core mission. Von Spakovsky set many of these priorities. He is currently nominated for a full appointment to the FEC. He should not be allowed to continue as a strong influence overseeing how elections are conducted. The Senate must act now and say "no" to von Spakovsky and "no" to the politicization of voting rights.
At the Department, von Spakovsky was part of a conscious effort to purge the section of the talent and dedication of long time civil servants; punished career staff when they recommended a course of action that diverted from the political goals of the administration; politicized substantive law enforcement decisions; and shifted the priorities of the section away from protecting the participatory rights of America's voters. His actions while at the Department raise serious questions about his professionalism and commitment to serve his country before his party.
During his time at the Department, the Voting Section overruled decades of precedent by using Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act to approve discriminatory legislation, such as the Georgia photo identification requirement and redistricting in Texas, over the near unanimous objection of career staff. Mr. von Spakovsky's Voting Section turned the purpose of the Voting Rights Act, the cornerstone of civil rights laws, on its head by using it to remove voters from the process instead of ensuring all eligible voters may vote. While a political appointee, he brought the weight of the Department of Justice down on the side of the Republican Party in partisan squabbles on the heels of the 2004 election, ignored documented failures of states to comply with federal mandates to help low-income voters register, and encouraged states to adopt irresponsible protocols for "purging" voters from their registration lists, likely leading to countless eligible registrants being removed.
I am fortunate to have Joe Rich, a former chief of the Voting Section, Bob Kengle, a former deputy chief at the Voting Section, and Jon Greenbaum, a former senior trial attorney at the Voting Section as colleagues at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Together they have nearly 70 years of experience in the Civil Rights Division. Each worked with von Spakovsky. As they have made clear, together with a number of their former career colleagues at DOJ, in two letters sent to the Senate Rules Committee, von Spakovsky frustrated the enforcement of the critical civil rights statutes that have protected Americans for a generation. The Senate can affirm its commitment to protecting the right to vote by rejecting von Spakovsky's nomination. To read the letters and for more information about von Spakovsky and the politicization of voting rights, visit http://www.nationalc...
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