Progressive Minds

You might call it "cutting and running."  Yesterday, Republicans in the House of Representatives delayed the re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, after several members of their party raised objections to some of the provisions in the Act.

Specifically, some Republicans take issue with a long-standing provision in the Voting Rights Act that calls for the federal oversight of certain states' election laws.

Under the Act, there are nine states with a history of racial discrimination, that must receive approval from the Justice Department or a federal judge before implementing changes to their election laws.  And some Southern Republicans say this is unfair; that these states should not be subject to federal oversight of their election laws, simply because of their racist past.

But events over recent years prove that this provision in the Act is still important; more important now than ever, in fact! 

The Georgia Voter ID Law is a good example.

Last year, under the guise of "voter fraud" (which really isn't a huge problem in this country), the state of Georgia attempted to implement a voter ID requirement, that would have required voters to show a government-issued ID in order to cast a ballot.  Georgia voters who don't have a driver's license, would have had to purchase a government-issued photo ID.

Georgia is one of the states covered under the Voting Rights Act, and thus their voter ID measure had to go to the Justice Department for approval.  Career lawyers in the Civil Rights Division, Voting Rights Section recommended that DOJ oppose the voter ID measure, saying it would due particular harm to Georgia's African-American voters. (Their decision was based on documents that the state of Georgia had provided, showing that tens of thousands of Georgians did not have a driver's license or other ID required). However, the career lawyers were overruled by political appointees within DOJ.  A federal judge ended up striking down the Georgia Voter ID Law, saying it was tantamount to an unconstitutional poll tax.  Republicans in Georgia have said they will attempt to re-write the meausure and make the ID cards free for taking.

Had Georgia not been subject to federal oversight, they would have implemented  an illegal poll tax.

There was also the case of a Texas re-districting plan (spearheaded by then House Majority Leader Tom Delay) which came before the Justice Department.  Career lawyers found that Delay's redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act because it would have unfairly diluted African-American and Hispanic voting power.  But once again, they were overruled by top officials in DOJ (read: the politicos).

What's more, former and current career lawyers within the Justice Department say that the politicos have wielded unusual influence in some of the highly charged cases that have come before them, like the Delay redistricting plan.  And they say that over the past five years (read: on BushCo's watch) many of the decisions made have benefitted Republicans.

In January of this year, the Washington Post reported that the Voting Rights Section had lost approximately a third of its three dozen lawyers within nine months.  The remaining staff have been forbidden from making recommendations in major voting rights cases, and have been affored very little input on hiring and policy decisions.

The Georgia voter ID measure and the Texas redistricting plan are just two of the many examples of why we need continued federal oversight of certain states' election laws.  And we need a Justice Department that is committed to keeping politics out of its voting decisions, and respects the professional opinions of its career lawyers.

House delays renewal of Voting Rights Act

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Justice Officials Are Accused of Influence