The Justice Department Plays Politics (Again)

The news of changes in the policies of The Justice Department justs keep getting worse. Not only are they replacing career civil rights professionals with political appointees, but they are actively subverting the Democratic process.

From The New York Times:

Alabama is one of many states that have been late in meeting a federal requirement to create a computerized statewide list of voters. Secretary of State Nancy Worley says the delay is due to factors outside her control. Her critics disagree. But whatever the reason, the Justice Department has every right to try to speed things along. The trouble is, rather than work with Ms. Worley to get the job done, it decided to go to court to take away her authority and hand it to Gov. Bob Riley.

Sadly, a federal judge agreed yesterday to do just that, in a one-sided proceeding that felt a lot like a kangaroo court. The Justice Department and the Alabama attorney general, Troy King, both argued that Governor Riley should control the voter database. Mr. King, a Republican, was appointed to his job by Governor Riley after serving as his legal adviser, and when Ms. Worley realized that Mr. King would not represent her interests, she asked him to let her hire a lawyer to argue her side. He refused. The Alabama Democratic Party tried to intervene in the case, so it could argue against giving control of the voter rolls to the governor. The judge, who was recently named to the bench by President Bush, would not let the Democrats in.

The Justice Department’s request to shift Ms. Worley’s powers to Governor Riley is extraordinary. Normally, the government would seek an order telling a state official what to do, or it would ask to have a nonpartisan person appointed as a special master. And the Justice Department’s aggressive stance stands in stark contrast to the forgiving approach it has taken to Republican secretaries of state. After Katherine Harris removed eligible voters from the rolls in Florida in 2000, and Kenneth Blackwell tried to block eligible people from registering in Ohio in 2004, the Justice Department made no effort to limit their powers.

Controlling the voting rolls can yield important advantages, as Ms. Harris proved in 2000. The Justice Department’s actions in Alabama appear to be less about enforcing the law than about wresting control of the voter rolls from the opposition party, and making a Democratic secretary of state who is up for re-election in a few months look bad.

It would not be the first time the Bush Justice Department seemed to play party politics with elections. Political appointees approved the pro-Republican Congressional redistricting plan in Texas and a voter ID law in Georgia, despite objections from staff lawyers that the plans violated the Voting Rights Act.

The Justice Department has enormous power over state elections. It is important that this power be used in a way that appears — and is — nonpartisan. Undercutting a Democratic secretary of state, and taking the extraordinary step of handing her powers to a Republican governor, meets neither test. The Justice Department is giving the impression that it is less concerned that elections be lawful and fair than that they come out a particular way.

Comments (5) «

partisan loyalty over competence.

ideology over ability.

corporate bias over constitutional fairness.

religion over science.

rhetoric over law.

this is what it takes to be a Bush/Cheney political appointee.

Bush/Cheney have been secreting their political larvae in every nook and cranny of our government (gross).

One of the first things we need to do when we take back congress is hire a good exterminator to get rid of this infestation!

1

DTree on August 3, 2006 at 03:25 PM

Voter suppression has become the true hallmark of the Republican Party. They seem to want their legacy to be corruption, deceit, and the dismantling of the democratic process. These partisan moves can only come back to bite them someday.

Why they think their Party will be immune to the fascist measures that they are putting into place is a real mystery. I guess they are too arrogant to believe the polls....or they "know" the electronic voting machines have already been programmed in their favor.

It doesn't really matter in the long run. Revolutions have happened before. We have at least one officially recorded in our own history.

There aren't enough secured, gated-communities or mansions with panic rooms that will stop the mobs once they realize the process has been designed to stop any peaceful change.

But then we all know they live in a delusional, sexually and religiously repressed alternate universe. Let them enjoy the fantasy while they can.

Reality always bites back. The more you try to stop it, the harder it will be to survive those self-inflicted wounds.

2

SandyH on August 3, 2006 at 03:50 PM

Here in NY they sued the state because we weren't complying with the Help Republican Vote Act and now next year we're going to have a choice to pick either the DRE's or Optical Scan machines for next year.

Alberto Gonzales and his crew at the JD need to be sued now.

3

ap215 on August 3, 2006 at 09:01 PM

They will work every conceiveable way to rig elections.They will not stop there.I believe they will try everthing to set up re-elections of repub majority,and then invoke marshall law to control the people if outbreaks occur.I don`t think they`ll stop until they have total power.They will makes us like the USSR used to be in order to rule.Democracy means nothing to these people,and absolute power is all they want.

4

virgo on August 3, 2006 at 09:20 PM

Complaining and whining about the injustice of actions such as these get Democrats no where. The only answer is action. So ....

This is a case where it is very, Very, VERY important that Alabama voters contact their voter registration offices to make sure their names are on the computerized statewide list of voters. And if their names are, to have a verification of that fact mailed to them. If their names are not, to insist loudly that their names be on the list. And, of course, to have EVERY facet of the process properly documented and/or recorded. Otherwise, by doing nothing, nothing will be done.

5

Rally on August 4, 2006 at 02:28 PM

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