Broadening Attacks on Vote Sanctity

Now President Obama is having his DoJ attack Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law.

The letter from DoJ to Pennsylvania’s Secretary of the Commonwealth can be viewed here.  Not only is Obama objecting to protecting the sanctity of a legitimate vote by trying to block efforts at screening “voters” who are ineligible, in this letter he’s also demanding a potful of wholly irrelevant personally identifying information on voters and potential “voters.”  Here’s a sample from his DoJ’s letter:

  • The current complete Pennsylvania voter registration list, including each registered voter’s full name, address, date of birth, identifying numbers (including driver license, social security, or other numbers), voter history, and race.
  • The current complete Pennsylvania driver license and personal identification card list, including each individual’s full name, address, date of birth, identifying numbers (including driver license, social security, or other numbers), and race.

There are a total of 16 different items of information being demanded, including the legitimate request for clarification of the apparent disconnect between the governor’s statement that 99% of eligible voters already have acceptable ID, and the commonwealth secretary’s statement that 758,000 registered voters lack acceptable ID.  However, this question’s legitimacy only exists on the basis of a legitimate concern for voter eligibility and has nothing to do with any voter ID requirement itself.  Since the administration’s attack on the Pennsylvania law has no legitimacy, the question about the disconnect is irrelevant.

Moreover, a voter’s voting history is wholly irrelevant to such an inquiry: what other fishing expedition is Obama’s DoJ conducting, sub rosa?  Nor is the individual’s address or age relevant.  Nor is the voter’s race, except that this administration intends to play, again, its race card.  In fact, the prior question that must be answered is whether legitimate voters are being removed from the voter registration lists in any significant number.  Only then can a question of racial motivation come into play.  (Disparate impact has no legitimate role, here, only motive.)  Since DoJ hasn’t established that legitimate voters are being removed in Pennsylvania, the entire investigation is bogus.

Finally, the Supreme Court already has upheld a substantially identical Voter ID law passed by Indiana.

Why is Obama running this, then?  So he can add names and addresses to his campaign and fund-dunning mailing lists?  So he can target those who might vote or support the wrong candidate?

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