The politics and realities of Voter ID: States across the country are cracking down on voting fraud by passing voter ID laws. The Obama administration led by Attorney General Eric Holder and the organized Left respond by claiming it will somehow disenfranchise the poor, elderly, and minorities. . . But Mr. Obama has not proposed creating yet another Big Government program to provide the elderly, the poor, and minorities with free or subsidized photo-ID’s so they might participate in any or all of the activities I mentioned above. Instead, his solution to the voting issue is to recklessly resist improving ballot security by opposing efforts to implement and enforce photo-ID at the polls.
How about redirecting the court costs of challenging state Voter ID laws to providing photo IDs for those the ACLU and NAACP claim can’t get IDs on their own?
Voter ID May Change How Students Can Vote
Minnesota’s proposed Voter ID requirement may affect how college students can vote, notes the Winona Post: If passed in the fall, the Republican-led amendment would require all voters to provide a state-approved photo identification card at polling stations. And it would change the way college students with temporary residency could vote in local elections, especially on school referendum and property tax ballots. . . In order to vote, the proposed law states the voter must have an “original receipt for a new, renewed or updated driver’s license, state identification card, or voter identification card” that clearly lists the residency within the precinct. A student I.D. will work only if it is coupled with a state-issued driver’s license with a current address. Far from “disenfranchising” students as some critics contend, the proposed ID requirement offers student voters a choice, as pinpointed in an MPR commentary: A student may have been here for years attending a Minnesota college or university, have lived in Minnesota the whole time and still have a driver’s license and vehicle registration from another state. This student may have a difficult time getting a valid Minnesota I.D. without becoming a resident of Minnesota. This does not mean that they cannot vote; they just have to vote in their state of residence, or become residents of Minnesota.
RNLA Response to Holder Misrepresentations
The RNLA has issued a statement about Eric Holder’s misrepresentations about the RNLA position on voter fraud. Link to full statement:
“RNLA Chair David Norcross said: ‘Holder is so desperate that he intentionally misquotes an RNLA survey. The brief internet survey was to show the vast majority of states have vote fraud convictions.'”
Holder Mischaracterizes RNLA Voter Fraud Survey
Eric Holder has mischaracterized entirely an RNLA email survey regarding voter fraud. The full story at Main Justice. (Incidentally, the Main Justice story by Elizabeth Murphy is so full of factual errors it reads like something from the Weekly World News. No need to detail them all here, but one is the notion I worked on Voter ID prior to 2005. In fact, I had never heard of it as an issue prior to summer 2005.)
The survey explicitly stated it was a sampling, and not a comprehensive list. Nevertheless, someone preparing Holder’s speech presented the survey as a comprehensive catalog of voter fraud. Someone inside DOJ will should be in a lot of trouble for this error. When you see this at the blog Main Justice, you know there is a problem: “The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment from Main Justice.”
That’s like Stan refusing to speak to Oliver. Or Frick ignoring Frack.
Wash Times: Holder’s Black Panther Blind Spot
Editorial here.
“What is it about the Justice Department and the Black Panthers? . . . There is an important moral dimension at play as well. This scandal offers an opportunity for the Obama administration to show it can act impartially and calm racial tensions. So far, the White House has failed to lead on the issue. President Obama’s high-profile public statement – “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon” – was bizarre and seemed to show undue bias. Taking swift action against those who seek to incite racial violence would demonstrate that the federal government enforces the law without prejudice. The Justice Department has yet to step up.”
Conference Committee to Work Out Minn. Voter ID
A conference committee will be working out details on the Minnesota Voter ID constitutional amendment.
Injustice in West Palm/Fort Lauderdale/Miami
I will be on WFTL-AM 850 in Fort Lauderdale at noon today to talk about Injustice, the DOJ and the New Black Panthers.
“Wisconsin Preps as Though Voter ID Law in Effect”
Wisconsin election officials say they are prepared for the Republican
presidential primary on April 3 despite uncertainty over the state’s
contested photo identification law.
The Government Accountability Board, which is in charge of elections, is
continuing to train inspectors and poll workers on the use of
state-issued photo identification, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
More at link.
Missouri state court stalls voter ID effort over ballot summary
An effort to make Missourians show photo identification at the voting
booth suffered a setback this week after a Cole County judge tossed a
constitutional amendment related to the issue.The
amendment would have allowed lawmakers to craft a bill that would enact
a voter identification law. On Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Pat Joyce
ruled the ballot summary was “insufficient and unfair” and asked
lawmakers to rewrite it.
“Top Obama donors among frequent White House guests”
President Barack Obama is using privileged access to one of America’s
greatest landmarks to reward his most generous financial supporters in
ways that Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum can’t match: More
than 60 of Obama’s biggest campaign donors have visited the White House
more than once for meetings with top advisers, holiday parties or state
dinners, a review by The Associated Press has found. link.