Obama administration blocks Texas voter ID law By Jeremy Pelofsky | Reuters â 2 hrs 44 mins ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday blocked a new Texas law requiring voters to show photo identification before they can cast a ballot out of concerns it could harm some Hispanic voters who lack such identification. The state law approved in May 2011 required voters to show government-issued photo identification, which could include a driver's license, a military identification card, a birth certificate with a photo, a current U.S. passport, or a concealed handgun permit. The Justice Department said that data from Texas showed that almost 11 percent of Hispanic voters, just over 300,000, did not have a driver's license or state issued identification card, and that plans to mitigate those concerns were incomplete. "Hispanic registered voters are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic registered voters to lack such identification," Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said in a letter to the Texas director of elections outlining the objection. This is the second state voter identification law blocked by the Obama administration, which earlier objected to a strict new law in South Carolina that it prevented from taking effect. South Carolina then sued in federal court seeking approval of its law. Under the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, certain states like Texas must seek approval from the Justice Department or the federal courts for changes made to state voting laws and boundaries for voting districts. The Obama administration has already challenged the state's attempt to re-draw congressional districts and that fight is now before the courts. Texas has also sued to get approval for its voter identification law. Several other states, including Kansas and Wisconsin, have adopted stricter new voter identification laws, arguing that they were necessary to prevent fraud at the ballot box. However some civil rights groups have said that the laws threatened to suppress minority voters. In Texas, the Justice Department said that potential voters would have to have two other identification documents to get a certificate allowing them to vote, which could require paying expensive fees for copies of legal documents such as birth certificates. Additionally, nearly one third of the counties in the state do not have offices where potential voters can obtain a driver's license or state identification card and some residents live more than 100 miles away, the Justice Department said. Efforts to educate voters about the new identification requirements were also incomplete and the state did not submit any evidence of voter impersonation not already addressed under existing state laws, the administration said. "The state has failed to demonstrate why it could not meet its stated goals of ensuring electoral integrity and deterring ineligible voters from voting in a manner that would have voided this retrogressive effect," Perez said. The Texas lawsuit for approval of the voter identification law is: State of Texas v. Holder in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 12-cv-128. http://news.yahoo.com/obama-administration-objects-texas-voter-id-law-161037385.html
Vote fraud is a core democrat strategy, particularly in states with large numbers of hispanics. The Voting Rights Act is an odious law that is unconstitutional on its face. It treats an entire section of the country as second class citizens whose constitutional rights to determine voter eligibility and draw districts, etc are subject to Justice Department approval. Meanwhile, the list of states Obama is suing grows ever longer. It is little noticed in the obma-media, but he is attempting an unprecedented federal power grab and destruction of historic notions of federalism.
It may be Obama's only hope in November. Can voter fraud throw an otherwise close election to Obama? We'll see. The MSM isn't telling us what the re-constituted ACORN organizers are up to.
OK, I'll be the fall guy. Show me some evidence of widespread voter fraud. AG Greg Abbott's failure to find widespread voter fraud won't bolster his voter ID appeal ]i] Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says he'll appeal the Justice Department's rejection of the Texas voter ID law, which would require voters to show a photo identification in order to vote. The law would have gone into effect by the May 29 Texas primary. But it's been held up in court amid challenges that it's actually aimed at depressing the minority vote, largely Democrats. Republican Abbott is looking to run for governor in 2014 and he has been promoting the voter ID idea, which is popular among Republicans.[/i] As they say 'a solution looking for a problem' - What is this, the day of LBJ and ballot stuffing? Not. Go ahead and call me names and all that stuff. Look, I don't personally care about showing ID's, but this is pretty transparent, even according to the article above. And more simple google: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201111070012 c
Why is the onus on Texas to prove widesprad voter fraud? See, the thing about successful fraud is you didn't know it was happening. There is no legal or constitutional requirement to "prove" some sort of problem is widespread before passing a law dealing with it. It is just another made up, bogus issue. There is no proof of widespread attempts to carry weapons and explosives onto airplanes, but we still have a hugely intrusive security apparatus. I fail to see why it is some kind of horrible indignity to expect voters to show basic ID. Try to do any of a myriad of things without it, from traveling to openiing a bank account. For that matter, try to get your SS card replaced. Try to get a government job. Try to join the military. Try to buy a freakin' beer if you're young. For some reason, democrats feel that anyone they drag into a polling place should be allowed to vote, citizen or not, felon or not, of legal age or not, state resident or not. Our most solemn responsibility as CITIZENS to them is less important than buying a beer or a pack of cigarettes.