Someone in Ohio Doesn’t Understand the Voting Rights Act

Drudge blasts the headline in Ohio that people who speak Somali are voting.  The shock!  Even worse, they aren’t speaking English!!!  The horror.  And to make it even more dangerous, they are being helped!!!!

Guess what, all of these activities are perfectly legal.  One need not speak English to vote.  That’s the law and the reactive excuse that you can’t become a citizen unless you speak English has absolutely no legal bearing on the matter.  Moreover, under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act, every one of these Somalis can be assisted by an interpreter, and it can be the same one, and it can be a representative of the Democrat party.  The person can even tell them for whom to vote if it was the continuation of a possible prior discussion (in Somali most likely) about for whom to vote. 

This is a diversion that carries the danger of people overreacting.  People who do not speak English are allowed to vote.  They are allowed to have people in the booth with them helping them. That helper can be a democrat, at long as it is not an employer or union leader. 

Someone in Ohio Doesn’t Understand the Voting Rights Act

Drudge blasts the headline in Ohio that people who speak Somali are voting.  The shock!  Even worse, they aren’t speaking English!!!  The horror.  And to make it even more dangerous, they are being helped!!!!

Guess what, all of these activities are perfectly legal.  One need not speak English to vote.  That’s the law and the reactive excuse that you can’t become a citizen unless you speak English has absolutely no legal bearing on the matter.  Moreover, under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act, every one of these Somalis can be assisted by an interpreter, and it can be the same one, and it can be a representative of the Democrat party.  The person can even tell them for whom to vote if it was the continuation of a possible prior discussion (in Somali most likely) about for whom to vote. 

This is a diversion that carries the danger of people overreacting.  People who do not speak English are allowed to vote.  They are allowed to have people in the booth with them helping them. That helper can be a democrat, at long as it is not an employer or union leader. 

Minnesota Voter ID Amendment Shows 12-Point Advantage



“A proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to show a government-issued photo ID before casting ballots continues to enjoy support of more than half the state’s voters, a new Star Tribune Minnesota poll has found.  A total of 53 percent of those polled support the amendment, compared to 41 percent who oppose it and 6 percent undecided, the poll found.”

Minnesota Voter ID Amendment Shows 12-Point Advantage



“A proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to show a government-issued photo ID before casting ballots continues to enjoy support of more than half the state’s voters, a new Star Tribune Minnesota poll has found.  A total of 53 percent of those polled support the amendment, compared to 41 percent who oppose it and 6 percent undecided, the poll found.”

Blink: OSCE monitors now say they’ll follow Texas law


AP is reporting that OSCE election monitors now intend to adhere to Texas election laws – after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott made it clear that it’s not optional:


 


“Everts, head of OSCE’s long-term election observer mission, said the group is nonpartisan, comes down on no side of the voter ID debate and that U.S. elections are secure enough to where his monitors don’t need to join registered and authorized poll watchers already inside.”


 


This appears to directly contradict Alexander Bolton’s report in The Hill on October 20 that “United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week,” and that the OSCE would be monitoring “array of activities, including potential disputes at polling places.”


 


And who were those “civil rights groups” raising concerns?  The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the ACLU, the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and Project Vote, according to Project Vote Executive Director Michael Slater.


 


Recall that back in March, NAACP President Ben Jealous and Senior VP for Advocacy Hilary Shelton led a delegation to the UN Human Rights Council to complain about Voter ID laws and urge UN monitors “to come in and observe” the alleged “suppression” at the polls.  That request was rebuffed.


 


Now OSCE’s Everts denies association with Project Vote and other partisan groups.


 


Looks like Bolton and The Hill, whose story sparked a huge backlash against the UN and OSCE, were misinformed.


 


Here are the locations where OSCE election observers will be deployed, no doubt in full compliance with all applicable state laws.

Blink: OSCE monitors now say they’ll follow Texas law


AP is reporting that OSCE election monitors now intend to adhere to Texas election laws – after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott made it clear that it’s not optional:


 


“Everts, head of OSCE’s long-term election observer mission, said the group is nonpartisan, comes down on no side of the voter ID debate and that U.S. elections are secure enough to where his monitors don’t need to join registered and authorized poll watchers already inside.”


 


This appears to directly contradict Alexander Bolton’s report in The Hill on October 20 that “United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week,” and that the OSCE would be monitoring “array of activities, including potential disputes at polling places.”


 


And who were those “civil rights groups” raising concerns?  The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the ACLU, the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and Project Vote, according to Project Vote Executive Director Michael Slater.


 


Recall that back in March, NAACP President Ben Jealous and Senior VP for Advocacy Hilary Shelton led a delegation to the UN Human Rights Council to complain about Voter ID laws and urge UN monitors “to come in and observe” the alleged “suppression” at the polls.  That request was rebuffed.


 


Now OSCE’s Everts denies association with Project Vote and other partisan groups.


 


Looks like Bolton and The Hill, whose story sparked a huge backlash against the UN and OSCE, were misinformed.


 


Here are the locations where OSCE election observers will be deployed, no doubt in full compliance with all applicable state laws.