MUST READ: GOP Behind Voter Fraud Push
An article in this weekend’s Miami Herald shows a clear connection between the Bush Administration, the GOP and voter suppression. According to the article Republicans have used their power and authority on three fronts, tax-exempt groups, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and US Attorneys to exaggerate claims of voter fraud and challenge the legitimacy of legal voters.
In addition, Republicans used these claims of “so called” voter fraud to push harmful voter ID legislation and to aggressively pursue U.S. Attorneys and organizations that were not on their side of the issue. According to McClatchy News Service, “The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division turned traditional voting rights enforcement upside down with legal policies that narrowed rather than protected the rights of minorities.”
Below are excerpts from the story:
GOP links to vote-fraud push
By GREG GORDON
“A New Mexico lawyer who pushed to oust U.S. Attorney David Iglesias was an officer of a nonprofit group that aided Republican candidates in 2006 by pressing for tougher voter identification laws…
“That strategy, which presidential advisor Karl Rove alluded to in an April 2006 speech to the Republican National Lawyers Association, sought to scrutinize voter registration records, win passage of tougher ID laws and challenge the legitimacy of voters considered likely to vote Democratic.
“Public records show that the two nonprofits were active in at least nine states. They hired high-priced lawyers to write court briefs, issued news releases declaring key cities 'hot spots' for voter fraud and hired lobbyists in Missouri and Pennsylvania to win support for photo ID laws. In each of those states, the center released polls that it claimed found that minorities prefer tougher ID laws. With $1.5 million in combined funding, the two nonprofits attracted some powerful volunteers and a cadre of GOP-allied attorneys. Of the 15 individuals affiliated with the two groups, at least seven are members of the Republican National Lawyers Association, and half a dozen have worked for either one Bush election campaign or for the Republican National Committee…”
To read the entire article visit: http://www.miamiherald.com/509/story/156993.html
