America's Democratic Promise The history of democracy in the United States is one marked by the steady, though intensely contested, expansion of the right to vote. Where once only male landowners were permitted the right to choose their representatives, the United States now proudly extends that right to all adult citizens. The most recent expansion of the franchise were the result of years of struggle through the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement. The seminal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 26th Amendment ratified in 1971 created enforcement mechanisms to protect minority voting rights and extended the right to vote to 18 year olds.
(The "voter fraud" fraud is shaping up to play a bigger role this year than it has in perhaps a 100 years, and progressives have yet to seriously respond to it, as it remains a focus of attention for far too few. - promoted by Paul Rosenberg)
Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters
Weekly Voting Rights News Update
By Erin Ferns
A year has passed since the U.S. Attorneys scandal first gathered steam for the firings of nine federal prosecutors - at least two of whom claim being "pressured by Republicans to bring charges of voter fraud against people who intended to [vote] for Democrats." But the issue is far from settled. This week, the phantom issue of "voter fraud" emerged in the guise of news stories, editorials, memos, blogs, legislation, and even a Senate hearing either extinguishing or inflaming the alleged election integrity problem, particularly regarding voter identification requirements. Ultimately, what has become most evident in the last year is how far partisans are willing to go in order to legalize voter suppression tactics through the smoke-screen of "voter fraud."
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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