The DeLay Scheme: Blatantly Buying Our Government

Top officials of the Bush administration overrode the objections of career civil rights attorneys at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to approve changes in voting procedures and electoral districts that would reduce the electoral impact of minority voters and help Republican candidates, according to documents leaked to the Washington Post.

The first case, in Georgia, dealt with changes in state voter registration procedures that would have created disproportionate obstacles for black voters. The plan was later blocked by a federal judge. The second case, changing the boundaries of Texas congressional districts to dilute the influence of Hispanic voters, was ultimately approved by a federal district court and led to a five-seat gain by Republicans in the US House of Representatives in the 2004 election.

Both cases involved the Justice Department’s authority, established under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, to carry out “pre-clearance” of any changes in the election practices of the southern states where suppression of minority voting was widespread during the Jim Crow era. The nine states affected have the burden of proof in these cases: that is, they must demonstrate that the changes they propose will not have a negative effect on minority voting.

These states routinely submit such changes to the staff of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which makes recommendations to the senior officials of the department, all political appointees selected by Bush. It is rare for such recommendations to be overturned by the top officials, unless the career staff are sharply divided.

The new Georgia law stiffens requirements for voter identification. Only six forms of required photo ID would be acceptable at polls. Birth certificates, for example, would no longer be sufficient to allow a registered voter to cast a ballot. Prospective voters without a driver’s license would have to obtain and pay for a special digital identification card from state department of motor vehicles offices, which exist in only about one third of the state’s counties. There is not a single such office in the city of Atlanta, the state’s largest and the jurisdiction with the largest black population.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/vote-d13.shtml