It was just 2008 when the Supreme Court made its mark on the legal debate over voter ID by upholding the relatively stringent Indiana voter ID law by a safe and solid 6-3 majority authored by then Justice Stevens.  However, it is increasingly apparent that opponents of voter ID, including many exercised Senate Democrats, are counting on the hard lefties in the Voting Section to fight to the last man and defy the Supreme Court ruling in Crawford. Interested observers noted in a panic:

“The last line of defense against voter identification laws is the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which enforces Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act”

Certainly, the Supreme Court believed they would have the final say on the matter and did not desire to delegate that authority to the new political hires in the Voting Section.  As if on cue, DoJ has put implementation of voter ID in South Carolina on hold for at least 60 days in requesting additional information to meet some unquantifiable burden as to why the voter ID process is not racially discriminatory. Of course, there is nothing unusual about the voter ID legislation in South Carolina other than they go above and beyond that of the 14 or so other states (including Indiana) that utilize voter identification, in accomodating citizens to more easily access voter identification.  

The Supreme Court decision in Crawford was momentous in deciding that the election administration practice of voter identification served the vital state interests of preventing fraud, modernizing elections, and safeguarding voter confidence and was not discriminatory or unconstitutional as a poll tax or unduly burdensome.  In fact, the Supreme Court ruling pulled extensive language from the Baker-Carter Commission bipartisan recommendations that included voter photo identification.  The Court was sending the message that the voter ID requirement is a legitimate reform and now a political question for legislatures to decide on the merits, not to battle in the halls of the Voting Section.  The Court was not sending a green light to diehard racialists at DoJ to make a last stand on the small Pacific Island of VoterID.

Despite steps taken by South Carolina to make photo identification even more accessible by driving registrants to local DMV’s if needed, it seems that DoJ remains entrenched in their default opposition and needs more information, more questions answered, and yet more time to analyze all the data…. that apparently wasn’t considered by the Supreme Court. Experts will tell you that this request for more information is just a prelude to more 60-day delays, more requests for information, and ultimately an outright objection will be forthcoming.  Memory is short with certain institutions in South Carolina and they failed to recall that the Palmetto State was where Obama staked his claim to the Democratic nomination and that their only true chance at objectivity in the preclearance process would be at the DC District Court.

After the 60-day smack in the face and a bunch of “I told you so” recriminations of not exercising the right to go to court, the light bulb finally went on and South Carolina hired former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement to represent them in taking this issue to the Supreme Court. As one of the lawyers who successfully argued for voter ID in Crawford, Clement will have the credibility to argue to the Supreme Court that DoJ is misusing the invasive power of Section 5 on voter ID on what is essentially now a political issue (as political gerrymandering) that has already been resolved by the highest court.  Clement may not have the most intimate knowledge of the shenanigans of the Voting Section, but he is probably the best man to argue that DoJ is openly defying the Court in the few states the DoJ can still cause mischief on voter ID – South Carolina and Texas. 

And mark it down, with the emergence of Rick Perry as a potential Republican nominee, the Voting Section and others will try to cause a bunch of mischief for the Lone Star State on a whole series of voting issues, including the epicenter of angst on the left – Texas Redistricting.  It’s going to be Cowboys vs. Aliens very soon.