Project 21: “With the exception of a small-minded few who possess no real political power, the American people have long since moved on from rules that singled out certain people for disparate treatment. Federal regulators, unfortunately, have not. At this very minute, state and local governments are still beholden to mandates from Washington that oversee and control purely local issues.”
PJ Media: “Suit Filed Over Refusal to Clean Up Voter Rolls”
PJ Media: That may seem to be a commonsense requirement, but the radical wing of the civil rights community loathes the provision. The Obama administration has not filed a single case to enforce Section 8, even though numerous counties in many states have the same disparities between voter rolls and eligible voters as these two Mississippi counties. Their voter registration lists are out-of-date because local officials are not deleting names of those who have died, moved away, or otherwise become ineligible to vote. According to a recent report on the Civil Rights Division by the Department of Justice inspector general, ten witnesses told the IG that one of Obama’s political appointees and Perez’s direct subordinates, Julie Fernandes, told Division staff that the administration was not interested in pursuing any cases under Section 8 because it did not expand voter access. In fact, Christopher Coates, the former chief of the Voting Section at the Division, recommended at least eight states be investigated for violating Section 8. Perez ignored his recommendation. . . .
“The American Civil Rights Union wants local election officials to clean up voter rolls in Mississippi. Last Friday, the group filed suit against two counties that have more registered voters than the Census says they have voting-eligible citizens. . . .
These are the first lawsuits from the ACRU’s “Election Integrity Defense Project,” which is headed by former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell and former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese. By trying to enforce federal laws intended to secure the integrity of our democratic process and our most fundamental right — the right to vote in free and fair elections — the ACRU is doing what the Justice Department should be doing, and would be doing if its law enforcement decisions were not so politicized.”
House Republicans to EAC: “Reform or Die”
House Republicans, primarily serving on the Committee on House Administration, have filed a bill to terminate the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and are demanding accountability of the federal agency tasked with providing assistance to states and counties with election administration.
The bill consolidates the EAC’s duties with other agencies, terminates taxpayer financing of presidential election campaigns and party conventions and pockets the savings towards deficit reduction. A newer version of the bill can be found by searching for H.R. 260 here.
Interesting enough, the Executive Order establishing the Presidential Commission on Election Administration states that the “Commission shall be informed by, and shall strive to avoid duplicating, the efforts of other governmental entities.” A review of election administration issues the new Commission is tasked with already reveals a significant amount of duplication of effort with the decade old EAC. Perhaps the reasoning is if the EAC is terminated, there is no longer a duplication of effort.
Free Speech Opponents Demand Speech Regulations from Obama
Those who oppose First Amendment free speech rights are demanding action from President Obama to restrict political speech.
If this were true, civil rights groups would encourage voter ID.
Cahokia Man Charged With Voter Fraud
KMOV link.
Imagine a World Without Section 5
I have written that Section 5, as constituted, does a disservice to the country by creating racially gerrymandered districts across the nation, even in places where it makes no sense to cover those jurisdicitions under Section 4. A side-effect of Section 5 is increased racial polarization, where candidates from these racially gerrymandered districts become polarizing and unable to appeal to a broader cross section of voters. The safe racial enclaves produced by Section 5, where candidates can never lose no matter what they say, is an unfortunate by-product of Section 5. Rep. Hank Johnson once again demonstrates my point:
NC Electoral Board Reset
The North Carolina board of elections has been tainted by partisan activity over the last few years, questionable behavior and perceived biases. NC Governor McCrory has hit the reset button, dissolved it, and presumably started the process of completely overhauling the board.
Link to full story.
News: Section 8 Lawsuits in Mississippi
Robert Knight at the Washington Times covers the ACRU lawsuits in Mississippi: “On Friday, three former U.S. Justice Department attorneys filed lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi seeking an order to compel election officials in Jefferson Davis County, as well as in nearby Walthall County, to clean up their voter rolls. Like hundreds of counties around the nation, these two have more active registered voters than there are age-eligible residents, a perfect recipe for making sure the dead or otherwise departed get a chance to vote again and again. Citing 2010 U.S. census data and voter-registration records, the lawsuit states that Jefferson Davis County has 10,078 active voters, but only 9,536 age-eligible citizens. “More than 105 percent of living citizens old enough to vote were registered to vote in Jefferson Davis County in 2013,” the lawsuit says. Walthall County has 14,108 registered voters, but only 11,368 age-eligible citizens, which means that 124 percent of Walthall’s eligible voters are registered. Not a good set of numbers if you’re concerned about vote fraud. On behalf of the American Civil Rights Union and its supporters in Mississippi, the lawsuits filed by attorneys J. Christian Adams, Christopher Coates and Henry Ross also ask the court to order election officials to provide records and data for public inspection as required by Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act, better known as the Motor Voter Law. The lawsuits are part of the American Civil Rights Union’s Election Integrity Defense Project, among whose architects are Edwin Meese III, a former U.S. attorney general under President Reagan, and J. Kenneth Blackwell, former Ohio secretary of state.”
Verified Fraud in Presidential Election
National Review has the details: Clinton barely beat Obama in the Indiana primary, garnering 51 percent of the vote. The delegates were split almost evenly, with Clinton receiving 38 and Obama receiving 34. Had Obama been disqualified from the ballot and Clinton had received all 72 delegates, it would have put her within striking distance of the nomination. How would candidate Obama’s grassroots and financial support have been affected if he had been disqualified from the ballot and his campaign enveloped in a fraud scandal caused by local Democratic-party operatives? Political momentum is a very delicate thing. It’s certainly possible that such a setback for Obama could have changed the outcome of the 2008 Democratic nomination contest. But of course, we will never know. All we do know for sure is that Indiana experienced election fraud committed by party activists that may have affected the 2008 election. But of course, according to some, there is no election fraud in the United States.”
“The mastermind behind the ballot-petition fraud was one Butch Morgan, then the Democratic-party chairman of St. Joseph County. With the help of three other employees of the county board of elections, Morgan faked names and signatures on ballot petitions that qualified Obama and Clinton for the May 6 Democratic primary. . . .