Sunday, June 24, 2007
An architect of voter harassment needs no reward
CYNTHIA TUCKER
Former metro Atlantan Hans von Spakovsky is among the GOP hacks who perverted the U.S. Department of Justice — trashing constitutional principles, rewarding partisanship over competence and converting the entire machinery into an arm of the Republican Party. His specialty was suppressing voting by Americans of color, who are more likely to support Democrats; he played a starring role in a nationwide effort to disenfranchise poor blacks, Latinos and Native Americans.
Now, von Spakovsky is seeking Senate approval for a six-year term on the Federal Election Commission, which enforces federal campaign finance laws. (President Bush gave von Spakovsky a recess appointment in January 2006, but he must have Senate confirmation for a full term.) The vote ought to be easy: No, no and no way.
chief of the Civil Rights Division's Voting Section — have stepped forward to oppose his nomination. According to The Washington Post, more than half the career lawyers in the Voting Section left in protest during his tenure.
Von Spakovsky's blatant disregard for the constitutionally guaranteed right to the franchise should disqualify him from even serving as a volunteer poll worker, much less a commissioner on the FEC. He is a leading light among the Republican activists who have whipped up the bogeyman of fraudulent voting, claiming that illegal ballots can only be stopped by stringent requirements, such as state-sponsored photo IDs, at the ballot box.
Actually, illegal voters are about as common as honest Bush appointees in the Justice Department.
A small federal agency called the Election Assistance Commission hired researchers who found "little polling place fraud." (The report's conclusions were downplayed and their release delayed by the GOP-dominated Election Assistance Commission; earlier, von Spakovsky tried to get one of the researchers fired.) The real agenda was to throw up enough obstacles at the ballot box to shave off a few thousand votes that would probably go to Democrats, enough for Republicans to win in close elections.
Appointed to the Justice Department after serving Bush valiantly in the Florida vote-count debacle, von Spakovsky more or less took over the Voting Section, which until then had worked to ensure that all citizens had access to the ballot box — especially citizens from ethnic groups whose history included the harshest forms of disenfranchisement. Von Spakovsky turned that mission on its head. Under his de facto leadership, the Voting Section became a mechanism for disenfranchising certain voting blocs.
After Republican Tom Heffelfinger, then Minnesota's U.S. attorney, tried to scrutinize a new state photo ID requirement that he believed would disenfranchise Native Americans — a reliable Democratic voting bloc in the state — von Spakovsky essentially blocked the investigation. (Though Heffelfinger resigned on his own, his name did surface at one point on a list of U.S. attorneys targeted for replacement.)
Von Spakovsky supported the mid-decade gerrymandering of legislative districts by the GOP-dominated Texas Legislature. And he informed Arizona officials that they did not have to provide provisional ballots to voters who showed up at the polls without proper ID, an interpretation clearly at odds with the plain words of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Further, it was von Spakovsky who was largely responsible for clearing the way for an overly restrictive photo ID law passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2005 (and since blocked by the courts). He overruled career attorneys in the Voting Section, who believed the requirement would disproportionately disenfranchise black voters in the state. He should have recused himself from that case, since shortly before, he had anonymously published an article in a legal journal arguing for stringent photo ID requirements at the polls, claiming there was no evidence such laws would hurt minority voters.
Trying to drum up a little sympathy with dubious Democratic senators at his hearing last week, von Spakovsky reminded them that he was born to humble immigrants who had fled Nazi Germany and communist Russia. But the young Hans seems to have drawn the wrong lessons from his parents' experiences. He needs to be sent back to ninth-grade civics class, not rewarded with a position on the FEC.
Former metro Atlantan Hans von Spakovsky is among the GOP hacks who perverted the U.S. Department of Justice — trashing constitutional principles, rewarding partisanship over competence and converting the entire machinery into an arm of the Republican Party. His specialty was suppressing voting by Americans of color, who are more likely to support Democrats; he played a starring role in a nationwide effort to disenfranchise poor blacks, Latinos and Native Americans.
Now, von Spakovsky is seeking Senate approval for a six-year term on the Federal Election Commission, which enforces federal campaign finance laws. (President Bush gave von Spakovsky a recess appointment in January 2006, but he must have Senate confirmation for a full term.) The vote ought to be easy: No, no and no way.
chief of the Civil Rights Division's Voting Section — have stepped forward to oppose his nomination. According to The Washington Post, more than half the career lawyers in the Voting Section left in protest during his tenure.
Von Spakovsky's blatant disregard for the constitutionally guaranteed right to the franchise should disqualify him from even serving as a volunteer poll worker, much less a commissioner on the FEC. He is a leading light among the Republican activists who have whipped up the bogeyman of fraudulent voting, claiming that illegal ballots can only be stopped by stringent requirements, such as state-sponsored photo IDs, at the ballot box.
Actually, illegal voters are about as common as honest Bush appointees in the Justice Department.
A small federal agency called the Election Assistance Commission hired researchers who found "little polling place fraud." (The report's conclusions were downplayed and their release delayed by the GOP-dominated Election Assistance Commission; earlier, von Spakovsky tried to get one of the researchers fired.) The real agenda was to throw up enough obstacles at the ballot box to shave off a few thousand votes that would probably go to Democrats, enough for Republicans to win in close elections.
Appointed to the Justice Department after serving Bush valiantly in the Florida vote-count debacle, von Spakovsky more or less took over the Voting Section, which until then had worked to ensure that all citizens had access to the ballot box — especially citizens from ethnic groups whose history included the harshest forms of disenfranchisement. Von Spakovsky turned that mission on its head. Under his de facto leadership, the Voting Section became a mechanism for disenfranchising certain voting blocs.
After Republican Tom Heffelfinger, then Minnesota's U.S. attorney, tried to scrutinize a new state photo ID requirement that he believed would disenfranchise Native Americans — a reliable Democratic voting bloc in the state — von Spakovsky essentially blocked the investigation. (Though Heffelfinger resigned on his own, his name did surface at one point on a list of U.S. attorneys targeted for replacement.)
Von Spakovsky supported the mid-decade gerrymandering of legislative districts by the GOP-dominated Texas Legislature. And he informed Arizona officials that they did not have to provide provisional ballots to voters who showed up at the polls without proper ID, an interpretation clearly at odds with the plain words of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Further, it was von Spakovsky who was largely responsible for clearing the way for an overly restrictive photo ID law passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2005 (and since blocked by the courts). He overruled career attorneys in the Voting Section, who believed the requirement would disproportionately disenfranchise black voters in the state. He should have recused himself from that case, since shortly before, he had anonymously published an article in a legal journal arguing for stringent photo ID requirements at the polls, claiming there was no evidence such laws would hurt minority voters.
Trying to drum up a little sympathy with dubious Democratic senators at his hearing last week, von Spakovsky reminded them that he was born to humble immigrants who had fled Nazi Germany and communist Russia. But the young Hans seems to have drawn the wrong lessons from his parents' experiences. He needs to be sent back to ninth-grade civics class, not rewarded with a position on the FEC.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
What he didn't say. . .
Congressman Mac Collins Web Page
I found the recent letter from Doug Silvia, "Beyond dirty campaigning," interesting for what it did not say about the 8th District Congressional race between Mac Collins and Rep. Jim Marshall. He speaks about Marshall's support for the war on terror and support for veterans - both commendable, but fully expected of anyone wishing to represent the values of Middle Georgians.
What he did not mention are some of the other issues that Marshall supported through his votes in Congress. Marshall apparently believes that English is not the language of this nation by his vote to print election ballots in Spanish. He believes we do not have an energy problem in this country by voting against drilling for oil in ANWR and opposing new oil refineries.
He believes that hard working Americans should not have the right to pass on to their children the fruits of a lifetime of work by voting against repeal of the Death Tax. And most offensive, he voted against funding the terrorist surveillance program that has proven to be one of the most effective tools in the arsenal against terrorism.
Sylvia, who says he is a Republican, should not lose sight of the fact that Marshall voted with Nancy Pelosi 79 percent of the time last year and will vote to make her Speaker of the House should he return to the Congress. That reality would place Pelosi, an ultra liberal San Francisco Democrat, third in line to the presidency.
Judy Goddard
Chairman,
Houston County Republican Party
Warner Robins
I found the recent letter from Doug Silvia, "Beyond dirty campaigning," interesting for what it did not say about the 8th District Congressional race between Mac Collins and Rep. Jim Marshall. He speaks about Marshall's support for the war on terror and support for veterans - both commendable, but fully expected of anyone wishing to represent the values of Middle Georgians.
What he did not mention are some of the other issues that Marshall supported through his votes in Congress. Marshall apparently believes that English is not the language of this nation by his vote to print election ballots in Spanish. He believes we do not have an energy problem in this country by voting against drilling for oil in ANWR and opposing new oil refineries.
He believes that hard working Americans should not have the right to pass on to their children the fruits of a lifetime of work by voting against repeal of the Death Tax. And most offensive, he voted against funding the terrorist surveillance program that has proven to be one of the most effective tools in the arsenal against terrorism.
Sylvia, who says he is a Republican, should not lose sight of the fact that Marshall voted with Nancy Pelosi 79 percent of the time last year and will vote to make her Speaker of the House should he return to the Congress. That reality would place Pelosi, an ultra liberal San Francisco Democrat, third in line to the presidency.
Judy Goddard
Chairman,
Houston County Republican Party
Warner Robins
