DoJ Again Puts Electoral Politics Before Law

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Justice today sent a letter rejecting Texas' voter identification law saying Hispanic voters in the state are as much as 120 percent more likely than non-Hispanic voters to lack a driver's license or personal state-issued photo ID. 

"The announcement by the Department of Justice this morning in opposition to Texas' voter ID law is a prime example of a government agency putting partisan politics above reality and the law.  The decision is not based on accurate data or the merits of the argument; instead, it appears that some Democrats and far left groups believe the more lawful an election the less likely they are to emerge victorious," said David Norcross, Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) Chair.  "Neighboring New Mexico, the state with the highest percentage of Hispanic voters, requires voter ID for city elections in Albuquerque without any problems.  Just as some liberals defended corrupt election groups like ACORN, now others are attacking processes that will make it harder to cheat on Election Day."  

Rich Parsons, the communications director for the Texas Secretary of State, called the data which the Department of Justice requested "unreliable."  Parsons explained, "Texans are not required to identify themselves by race or ethnicity when they register to vote, so the data they ask for doesn't exist."

BACKGROUND:

• The Department of Justice kept asking Texas for data even if it was not accurate, so it could claim to justify blocking the voter ID law.  On September 23, 2011, the Department of Justice requested data from Texas about how many Hispanic voters do not have photo identification.  After Texas responded that the data was not collected, on October 5, 2011, the Department of Justice still requested data, asking for the number of voters with Hispanic surnames -- an inaccurate way to count voters of a certain racial background.
• This marks the second time the Department of Justice has objected to a Voter ID law using dubious statistics and math.  When they did so the first time in South Carolina, the Department of Motor Vehicles found that the numbers the Department of Justice relied upon were wrong, and actually were 86% lower than initially reported.   
• Every single court who has so far evaluated voter ID laws has found them constitutional.  When the Supreme Court evaluated Indiana's voter ID law, the Court upheld the law in an opinion written by liberal Justice John Paul Stevens.  When Georgia's voter ID law was challenged, an appellate court approved the voter ID law.
• The Texas voter ID law received support from State Representative Joe Pickett, a Democrat from El Paso.  He said, "If I really, truly thought that this would disenfranchise somebody, I would've voted against it.  In these days and times, it's just not the case... Having a basic identification is a function of everyday life."  Other states, including Democratic Party-controlled Rhode Island, joined Texas in passing a voter ID law this year.
• After receiving requests in September from liberal organizations like the ACLU asking for the voter laws to be blocked, the Department of Justice obeyed and did the far left's bidding.  

SOURCE Republican National Lawyers Association

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