Election Law Center

CPAC Panel

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:27:06 GMT

I am moderating a panel at CPAC this Friday at 2:50. Here is the latest information on the panel:

Obama vs. The Constitution: How a Harvard Law Graduate President Is Shredding the Constitution – Marshall Ballroom

The Honorable Ed Meese III, Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation and Former Attorney General of the United States

Carrie Severino, Chief Counsel and Policy Director, Judicial Crisis Network

Sheriff Paul Babeu, Pinal County, Arizona and Candidate for United States Congress

The Honorable George Allen, Former United States Senator

Moderator: J. Christian Adams, Former Justice Department Official and Author of Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department

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Los Angeles Redistricting Mess

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:09:00 GMT

A saucy article called "Are Asians the Other WAre Asians the Other White Meat?"hite Meat?" ...

Voter ID and the "Negro Project"

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:44:00 GMT

PJ Rule of Law here.

"It seems photo Voter ID and Planned Parenthood have been in the news quite a bit lately. Today I gave a presentation at Duke University School of Law on Voter ID. I discussed both topics. How are they related?

One of the favorite canards of Voter ID opponents is that Voter ID is an intentional scheme to harm black voters. The theory supposes since black voters tend to have photo identification less frequently, then state laws requiring voter ID are a deliberate plot to harm black voters. . . ."

Full story at link. ...

AFL-CIO to join in Jubilee Weekend

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:07:00 GMT

The AFL-CIO will participate in Jubilee Weekend in Selma, Alabama. T

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"Voter Integrity Laws Gathering Momentum Across the U.S."

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:03:22 GMT

Why are the laws "gathering momentum"? Two words - Eric Holder. From the American Thinker:

"The Department of Justice has exclusively chosen laws it wants to uphold, yet it looks the other way on laws that need to be enforced. Because Eric Holder's Justice Department refuses to protect the integrity of the election process, the states must step in and fulfill that responsibility. American Thinker interviewed experts to get their opinion on how to make sure voters are not disenfranchised. . . .

Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA) is frustrated over the issue of voter registration since 'in many states there are registration people that are being paid for every person that they register to vote. There is a financial incentive to have non-citizens register to vote. . . . Someone illegally voting could cancel out your vote. In Holder's Justice Department, the integrity of the electoral process doesn't matter.'

. . .

Adams believes that this Justice Department is openly hostile toward bringing cases against minorities who violate the law. Kobach is outraged that the 'DOJ does not go after voter intimidation and does not care to stop voter fraud.'

. . .
Engelbrecht believes that 'Eric Holder has a different set of lenses that he looks through, and unfortunately, these lenses are tainted with a radical agenda. He looks at a certain group of Americans as the perpetual victim. Holder is following through on his promise that no election law will be put in place unless it heavily favors minorities.' Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) cannot understand how Holder and his Justice Department would not support a law that 'only represses fraudulent votes.'

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National Review: Reconsidering Section 5

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:05:00 GMT

Han von Spakovsky on DOJ's Kinston retreat.

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Lewis County (WA) Voter Fraud Charges

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:05:19 GMT

Voter fraud charges in Washington.

"A 35-year-old Glenoma woman who emigrated to the United States from Ghana, Africa, is accused of voter fraud in Lewis County Superior Court.

Marda Aglubi-Blomstrom is expected on Feb. 16 to enter a plea to one count of providing false information on an application for voter registration."

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"Tim Tebow" and "Tom Brady" Register to Vote in MN

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:47:12 GMT

"Tim Tebow" and "Tom Brady" register to vote. Project Veritas strikes again. More at PJ Media.NOTE: Obvioulsy Tabella already had covered this story here. These things happen when we don't always coordinate the content here between us. Some stories are worth posting twice, I suppose. ...

Section 8 Cases Cometh

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:44:44 GMT

Examiner has some details. (The GOP part is innacurate. The GOP has nothing to do with this).

More about the Section 8 press conference at CPAC here at Yahoo News. ...

Republican Secretaries of State challenge DOJ officials on Section 5 and Photo ID

tl_atlas@hotmail.com (Tabella) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:34:19 GMT

At a recent National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) conference televised on C-Span3, Secretaries of State Hosemann and Kobach challenged the analysis that Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez and the Voting Section are employing to interpret the Supreme Court photo ID case of Crawford in relation to Section 5 preclearance states.

1h8m into the video, Mississippi Secretary of State Hosemann points out that DOJ relied on statistics showing neglible differences on the possession by ethnic groups of a DMV license. AAG Perez refused to answer the questions on the use of these limited statistics and quickly pointed out that the burden was on the jurisdiction. Oh yes, the burden! We know that without the ever-moving ~~goalposts~~ burden to hide behind, who knows how many more times DOJ would have been sanctioned for frivilous lawsuits and objections. Yes, this is the same type of objection that DOJ is running away from in the Kinston case as the judicial guillotine is slowly placed over their head.

1h15m of the stream, Kansas Secretary of State Kobach questioned Perez on how DOJ (as an executive branch agency) was able to get around the Crawford ruling where the Supreme Court specifically noted that the trip to the DMV doesn't qualify as a burden on voters. Perez refused to discuss the factors involved in the decision; instead, he opted to discuss his new holilistic approach that he uses to address these issues.Apparently, it isn't important to articulate the legal analysis to chief election officials or Section 5 legislatures that might want to pass healthy voter ID laws. Instead, Perez told the election officials that the Voting Section would wait to address the legal factors until they got to court.

Perez continued his mantra that DOJ was utilizing a "holistic look at the process" meaning that unless the voting procedure is preceived as "healthy" for the jurisdiction by a bunch of Obama political appointees, it would not be approved. Since the Obama Administration is anathema to photo ID, we can safely assume that all proposed ID laws will be considered "unhealthy" upon arrival. ...

South Carolina challenges Obama Administration over voter ID law

tl_atlas@hotmail.com (Tabella) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:29:17 GMT

South Carolina pushes the Holder Justice Department to explain their distorted analysis of Section 5 and caselaw relating to photo ID. The Voting Section will be forced to explain why they don't seem able to comprehend what the Supreme Court meant when they wrote that photo ID was non-discriminatory and placed no additional burden on voters not already required by the act of actually visiting a polling place. They will also have to explain why the Department is requiring South Carolina to provide proof of fraud to justify the photo ID requirement when the Supreme Court specifically noted that this proof was not necessary or required to jusitfy the reform as the state has a independent interest to increase voter confidence and belief that measures are being taken to prevent registration or voting fraud.

The link to the story is here. ...

In Manatee (Florida), jury excusals may reveal non-citizen voters

tl_atlas@hotmail.com (Tabella) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:12:54 GMT

There has to be a better way to identify non-citizens but is there anyone who believes the Obama Administration or the Holder DOJ is going to cooperate.

Supervisor of Elections Bob Sweat Monday said he is checking to make sure that those excused from jury duty because they are not U.S. citizens are not also listed on local voters’ rolls.

Sweat intended to ask R.B. “Chips” Shore, Manatee County clerk of circuit court and comptroller, for a list of jury excusals in an effort to cross-check the names.

“If they said they were not citizens, the first thing I would do is check with immigration, not just take them off the rolls,” said Sweat. “We would want some definite proof.”

Only those who are U.S. citizens and residents of Manatee County are eligible to vote here, Sweat said.

He had received an email earlier in the day from a local resident asking if the two lists are compared in Manatee County.

The email was linked to a report from a Fort Myers television station, which compared jury excusal forms and voter registration rolls in two counties it covers. The station found 87 people on both lists, according to its website.

The full story at Bradenton.com. ...

Minnesota Live: Same Day Registration of Tim Tebow and Tom Brady

tl_atlas@hotmail.com (Tabella) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:49:04 GMT

ProjectVeritas strikes again... trying to register the recently depressed Tom Brady who doesn't want to come in and register. This time ProjectVeritas reveals out how easy it is to register even under a famous name without any independent verification of identity. In Minnesota, the system is even more susceptible to fraud due to same day registration and voting procedures.

No one was able to register for Eli Manning because everyone knows he's at Disney World.

here and here.

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Texas AG compromise plan doesn't satisfy all minority advocacy groups

tl_atlas@hotmail.com (Tabella) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:59:39 GMT

Boy, that is a surpise. The story at Roll Call. Apparently the Western District Court of Texas doesn't yet appreciate the fact that you really can't please everyone... ~~all of the time~~, ever. Just as in their initial zealous redrawing of maps that were one-sided toward the plaintiffs, the court has this inexplicable inclination to satisfy each and every desire of the numerous advocacy groups that have sued the State of Texas. The lower court's acting on that inclination, ignoring the Texas legislature was specificially why the Supreme Court smacked down their line-drawing.

So the Western District Court seems literally frozen in place and unable to take any action. Yet, the court has an independent responsiblity to follow the dictates of the Supreme Court and an obligation to Texas citizens who should be able to participate in a primary election without the disruption of scheduled elections and losses of millions of dollars to counties and cities. The narrow interests of the few (who themselves have conflicting interests) should not so easily seize up the entire electoral process. ...

NC Redistricting May "Hurt Women"

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:48:00 GMT

A novel opposition. Daily Tarheel. ...

Voter ID Passes Virginia Senate - "So 1866"

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:36:00 GMT

Prospects are up for House passage also. More here.

Sen. Mamie Locke, D–Hampton, argued against the bill, saying that voter fraud tends to be random and isolated, and that the greater problem is voter apathy. “We should be encouraging voter turnout, not finding barriers to limit participation,” Locke said. “This bill—and others like it—is so 1866.”

A brief note about Senator Mamie Locke's history. 1866 was a poor choice. In fact, 1866 probably saw some the most open elections for freedmen in the Commonwealth. Perhaps she meant 1864, or 1904. But in 1866, it was largely Southern white ex-confederates who were disenfranchised, and not so much the freedmen. But no matter. Senator Locke has her history, and she's sticking to it.

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Deal Reached in TX Redistricting Lawsuit

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:54:31 GMT

But vetoed by "civil rights" groups. Washington Post.

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Rhode Island SOS office to visit each city and town on Voter ID tour

tl_atlas@hotmail.com (Tabella) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:40:13 GMT

Starting with the April 24th presidential primary, Rhode Island voters will have to present identification to vote. The Secretary of State is about to launch a campaign to issue photo ID cards to voters who need them.

Secretary of State Ralph Mollis says representatives from his office will visit every city and town in Rhode Island over the next eight months to issue photo ID's for voting. The cards are free and are the size of a driver's license and contain the voter's photograph, name and date of birth.

Full story here.
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Voter ID Debate at Duke Law Tuesday at 12:15

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:44 GMT

I will be at Duke Law School on Tuesday debating Voter ID in the noon hour. Info here.

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RI Secretary of State Implements Voter ID Law

adams@electionlawcenter.com (Christian Adams) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:19:42 GMT

More at the Republic. "Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis is visiting the East Providence Senior Center and St. Martin de Porres Senior Center in Providence on Tuesday to tell voters how to obtain a free voter ID. His office says voters who attend the events will be among the first to receive state-issued voter IDs." ...