The interview at Roll Call with Assistant Attorney General Perez that must have taken place after the daily yoga session.
Perez’s division has become one of the GOP’s most prominent targets as the division considers new voting laws passed by GOP-controlled state legislatures and hires dozens of new career civil rights attorneys who Republicans charge are too liberal. “One of my principal goals in coming here, not only in the voting section, but across the board, is to make sure that politics doesn’t infect the decision-making process,” Perez told Roll Call last week. “Now, when we make decisions, do they affect how elections are carried out? Undeniably, because that’s what the Voting Rights Act is about.”
On that score, Perez seems to have failed on multiple counts: Count 1: His wholesale hiring of left wing Obama supporters into the Voting Section leaves no doubt the answers that he seeks. Count 2: A majority of the states that currently (and forever apparently) interact with DOJ on Section 5 issues sincerely believe that “politics has improperly infected the decision making process.” Enough so that they have walked with their feet to federal court, not allowing final decisions of import to rest with Perez or the partisan hires at DOJ. How is that for a vote of confidence in Attorney General Holder’s shop.
“Preclearance is a deeply complicated process, and Perez noted several factors go into his division’s analysis and decisions. Certain House districts must have a combination of the right minority voting age population, turnout performance, candidate crossover appeal and racial community cohesion. “There’s no magic numerical formula. It’s a very holistic analysis that involves looking at prior elections, voting age data, things of that matter,” Perez said. “We’re trying to demystify the process.”
No magic formula? A holilistic approach? Should not the law be the magic formula. Perez wants to look at all aspects of the voting process and this approach may be the current Department’s problem. Perez is essentially telling states that there is no magic formula to receive preclearance from him. But he knows discrimination when he sees it and when a voting change fails to meet this subjective holilistic standard. The law requires guidelines that set standards and actually provides guidance, provide bright lines and safety harbors, applies consistent retrogression standards, and does not rely on some “holilistic” analysis that involves casting judgment on the vastly different voting processes across the country. It appears many states are mystified.