No kidding.
The accelerated trial will not help Texas, who bears the burden of proving a negative.
Here are two predictions. First, this case may well not come out in Texas’ favor for a variety of reasons too complicated to discuss today. But the biggest reason relates to my second prediction. The law, amended in 2006 is very unfavorable to Texas. Section 5 was changed to make it harder to get federal approval, and Republicans voted overwhelmingly for this change.
My second prediction is that if DOJ wins the two Voter ID cases, you will see Republican majorities in the House and Senate dial back the 2006 reauthorization changes if the Supreme Court doesn’t first wipe out Section 5. (More on that later; even if the Shelby case strikes down the triggers for Shelby County Alabama, will it make any difference in Texas – a big topic for another day.)
Author Archives: J Christian Adams
DOJ Voting Section to Houston for Chinese Ballots
Justice Department sources confirm that Justice Department lawyers will be going to Harris County Texas to examine whether Harris is using Chinese ballots to the satisfaction of the DOJ. DOJ lawyers will be there on Monday.
Harris County officials of course have no obligation to expose the inner workings of their compliance with Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act. DOJ lawyers visit locations like Harris first and foremost to gather evidence which may later be used in a lawsuit against jurisdictions. If they detect problems, the DOJ lawyers will begin to build a case or other enforcement action against Harris. Whether Harris County cooperates in building a lawsuit against Harris County is up to them.
On the other hand, Harris County could merely assure DOJ on the phone they are complying with the law and any agreements (in the unlikely event the agreements have not expired). This would force the DOJ lawyers coming to Houston on Monday to build a case through hard work rather than unwitting confessions by Harris officials.
Kobach Talks Voter ID at Forum
Link here.
DOJ’s Spelling Lessons
Matt Boyle at the Daily Caller has this funny story about the hotheaded and often thin-skinned DOJ Press spokeswoman “Because DOJ spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler has not answered TheDC’s questions about Fast and Furious for months, TheDC asked her if Holder would do an interview on the subject. “I’m going to decline your request,” Schmaler said in response. The Holder spokeswoman also accused TheDC of throwing “sticks and stones.” And, though TheDC spelled her name correctly in the request, Schmaler added: “It’s tracy — with no ‘e.’” Schmaler didn’t answer when TheDC asked her to explain that comment.”Tracey Tracy Schmaler. Apparently Schmaler saw imaginary misspellings and lectured Matt.
Of all the many ways that the Department of Justice will return to a focus on integrity and decorum on January 21, 2013, few will surpass the departure of Tracy Schmaler from the Office of Public Affairs where she has converted the place into a uncouth political operation worthy of the DNC. That Eric Holder has not cut loose this loud, dishonest political operative speaks volumes about his worthiness to serve in the office.
Drudge Readers Most Educated
Interesting results from a Neilsen survey: Readers of the Drudge Report are the most highly educated of major news sites.
“Absentee voting heating up in Wisconsin Recall Election”
The government accountability board tracks these numbers, showing that
90,000 ballots have been issued in the badger state compared to a total
of 68,000 in the primary. Link
A majority of Tennessee Blacks and Democrats support photo ID laws
In a Vanderbilt University poll, a majority of Democrats (48.1%) supported an approved form of photo ID to vote. In fact, a majority of Blacks (47.5%) support the law. When a poll shows that a majority of ideological liberals (44.4%) support photo ID requirements and 40% minority opposing it, it may be time to move on to some other issue. Overall support for the law stood at 64% with 20% opposing. At the link, you are able to filter the results by demographic or other questions.
PA Voter ID: “Constitution Forgotten?”
Trib. “We have a Constitution to protect our individual rights, as well as the rights of the individual states. It’s about time the Obama administration and our own elected officials became cognizant of that document.”
Voter ID Coalition Launches AARP Boycott
The link to the webpage of the AARP boycott: www.ditchaarp.com.
I know there are alternatives to the AARP.
City Journal: “Redistricting Wars”
City Journal link. Unfortunately, the results were anything but nonpartisan. The independent chair sided consistently with the two Democrats, essentially giving them control over the makeup of the congressional and state legislative maps.”
Get rid of “non partisan” redistricting commissions:
“So a decade ago, Arizona voters decided to end the partisanship by removing the redistricting process from the state legislature and placing it in the hands of an independent commission. Last year, the new commission, consisting of two Democrats, two Republicans, and a nonpartisan chair, got to work on its first set of maps after the 2010 census.
Didn’t work as advertised in California either:
” In 2008, for example, California’s Proposition 11 put state legislative redistricting in an independent commission’s hands; two years later, Proposition 20 gave the commission power over congressional redistricting as well. But Democrats hijacked the process, according to a series of investigative articles on the websites Calwatchdog and ProPublica.”
The role of Section 5 in the redistricting process leads to hyper-partisanship:
“To understand the full implications of racial gerrymandering, consider a state that lacks it: Iowa, which is 91 percent white and where no county has more than a 20 percent minority population. The state consequently doesn’t have to worry about drawing districts for the sake of electing minority representatives. Not coincidentally, Iowa also has the country’s most nonpartisan, nonpolitical redistricting process.”
Full article at link above.