Eric Holder: Voter ID Laws Are 'Poll Taxes'

[Bozita]

Eric Holder: Voter ID Laws Are 'Poll Taxes'
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI and PETE YOST
07/10/12 02:28 PM ET


HOUSTON -- Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday he opposes a new photo ID requirement in Texas elections because it would be harmful to minority voters.

In remarks to the NAACP in Houston, the attorney general said the Justice Department "will not allow political pretexts to disenfranchise American citizens of their most precious right."

Under the law passed in Texas, Holder said that "many of those without IDs would have to travel great distances to get them – and some would struggle to pay for the documents they might need to obtain them."

"We call those poll taxes," Holder added spontaneously, drawing applause as he moved away from the original text of his speech with a reference to a fee used in some Southern states after slavery's abolition to disenfranchise black people.

more...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/eric-holder-voter-id-poll-tax_n_1662847.html

[PearliePoo2]

1. Now we're TALKING!

Calling it what it is. Go get 'em Holder.
rec.

[bvar22]

43. "Now we're TALKING" is right.

Lets see some Law Enforcement.

[livetohike]

2. That's right and I tried explaining that to a right winger a few months ago

and she had no idea what I was talking about. I guess she was sleeping during history class .

[Scootaloo]

14. Or the history class just didn't cover it

If my history classes were any indication, there's a huge, HUGE empty space between 1865 and 1965

Of course, I was in Alabama for high school...

[AlbertCat]

41. HUGE empty space between 1865 and 1965

In my 8th grade class, there was a huge empty space between 1776 and 1941!

[The Last Democrat]

29. IF

she went to school.

[tblue37]

3. So STOP them, AG Holder--and while you are at it, stop the

illegal purging of Democratic voters from the voter rolls.

[progressoid]

6. +1

[flamingdem]

8. +2 what's happening in PA? 2 mill disenfranchised?

nt

[tblue37]

24. Just FYI flamingdem--

"nt," which means "no text," should be put in the subject line, not in the message or post. It's purpose is to let a reader know that he/she should not waste time opening a message or post, because there is no text there to read.

Since many people have glacially slow computers, "nt" or "eom" lets them save time by not opening posts that have nothing in them.

[flamingdem]

25. thanks, good point, nt!

[tblue37]

49. I opened your "nt" post anyway,

just so I could respond to say hi--and to thank you for not getting mad at me for letting you know.

Sometimes people get really pissed at me when I tell them such things, but honestly, I do just mean to help, because others have passed on such info to me, and I was glad to get it.

[SunsetDreams]

16. He has been going after them

I suspect that is the "real" reason for the trumped up contempt charges. They wanted to keep his hands busy so to speak. These are just a few of the actions. You can search the Justice Department yourself. http://www.justice.gov/ Hover your mouse over "News" in the header bar, and then in the drop down click on "Justice News".

Justice Department Demands Florida Stop Purging Voter Rolls
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/justice_department_demands_florida_stop_purging_voter_rolls.php

Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Florida Alleging Violations of the National Voter Registration Act
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/June/12-crt-746.html

Justice Department Sues Florida Over Voter Purge
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/justice-department-sues-florida-voter-purge_n_1591354.html

Justice Department to Monitor Elections in South Carolina
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/June/12-crt-737.html

Justice Department to Monitor Elections in California, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wisconsin
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/June/12-crt-709.html

Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Texas
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/May/12-crt-677.html

Justice Department to Monitor Elections in Nebraska
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/May/12-crt-622.html

Justice Department Settles with Flint, Michigan, to Make Voting Accessible to People with Disabilities
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/May/12-crt-651.html

[Sherman A1]

28. +1000

If they are indeed a poll tax (and I believe they are) then he is obligated to challenge them and move forward with them being stricken.

[Tigress DEM]

4. kick and rec

[malaise]

5. Take off the gloves Eric

Nail the scumbag ReTHUGs

[Spazito]

7. Exactly, an excellent descriptor by Attorney General Holder...

I hadn't thought about it that way until reading this but it really is the modern version of the poll tax.

Well said, AG Holder.

[Gothmog]

9. Current voter id laws are poll taxes

There are some clear differences or distinctions between the Texas act (SB14) and the Indiana law upheld by the SCOTUS. In particular, under the Texas law one can not get a free id without a birth certificate. Justice Stevens approved the Indiana law in part because one could provide alternative documents to get the free id . http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=07-21&friend=nytimes In footnote 18 of Justice Stevens opinion, the fact that the Indiana statute did not require birth certificates was important to the court

Footnote 18

As petitioners note, Brief for Petitioners in No. 07-21, p. 17, n. 7, and the State's "Frequently Asked Questions" Web page states, it appears that elderly persons who can attest that they were never issued a birth certificate may present other forms of identification as their primary document to the Indiana BMV, including Medicaid/Medicare cards and Social Security benefits statements. http://www.in.gov/faqs.htm; see also Ind. Admin. Code, tit. 140, §7-4-3 ("The commissioner or the commissioner's designee may accept reasonable alternate documents to satisfy the requirements of this rule&quot .

There is a good state court case from the Missouri Supreme Court that held that any law that requires one to pay for a birth certificate in order to vote is a poll tax. http://www.advancementproject.org/news/newsletters/democracy-in-action-volume-october-2006/the-missouri-supreme-court-declares-missour

I am hoping that the Department of Justice will be arguing that the Texas act is indeed a poll tax in the trial that is taking place in DC. I think that the facts and law support this position.

[meow2u3]

10. To the Greatest Page this goes

It's about time he came out and said that the voter ID laws as they're written is a poll tax.

Even if the voter ID card is free, the documents necessary to get them costs a fee, which is a tax by another name. What will the rethugs do next? Bring back literacy tests? And what's to say the repuke voters aren't using fake IDs?

[Fawke Em]

11. Damn straight, they are.

[HooptieWagon]

12. I hope AG Holder does more than send strongly worded letters... Nt

[pscot]

13. Golly. If only he were in a position

to do something about it.

[surrealAmerican]

15. They are that and more.

In a way they are both "poll taxes" and "literacy tests". Not everybody is good at navigating a bureaucracy well enough to obtain the needed documents even if they can afford them.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Voter ID laws are poll taxes. Why is Holder chattering and not taking action?

Someone should tell him voter ID laws are tied to pot in some way, then he'd send SWAT teams after them.

[Gothmog]

27. There is a trial going on right now as to the Texas voter id law

The DOJ blocked the Texas voter id law and forced the State of Texas to file suit to get such act approved. The trial of this case started yesterday. The DOJ has been doing a great deal here. Without the DOJ, voters in Texas would be subject to a voter id/poll tax law right now.

[Flatulo]

18. Serious question: How do people without positive (photo?) identification get

approved for Social Security and Medicare?

I assume a good percentage of these folks that don't have photo IDs are elderly?

In Massachusetts, you need a birth certificate to get a driver's license or state-issued ID.

[Lifelong Protester]

20. Most of us, er, oldsters got our SS

number and cards when we were younger. I think my parents went with me, I think we had to bring a birth certificate, but that was about 40 years ago. Most seniors got their SS years ago, a LONG time ago, and there were no photo IDs required then.

[Flatulo]

21. I'm 56 myself, and I think I got mine when I was 14, because it was needed to work.

So I assume these voter ID laws don't allow a SS card to be used? It has to be a photo ID?

[spanone]

31. here in tennessee, it's photo i.d.

yep.

Voter Identification Requirements

2012 Requirements

Beginning January 1, 2012, all voters must present an ID containing the voter’s name and photograph when voting at the polls, whether voting early or on Election Day. The information on this website is provided to ensure that all Tennessee voters have access to information about the new law. If you have further questions, please see the Contact Us information at the bottom of the page.

http://www.tn.gov/sos/election/photoID.htm

republican congress and governor....it really stinks down here

[Lifelong Protester]

19. All Right then!

Let's call it what it is and quit pussy-footin' around the issue. It is discriminatory, it is a tax, it is against civil rights laws. IT NEEDS TO BE STOPPED.

[rocktivity]

22. Obama sent Holder AND Biden to speak at the NAACP?

So much for his "snubbing" them -- the "Rope-A-Dope Kid" strikes again!


rocktivity

[LynneSin]

23. Quick!!! Let's find another witch hunt to drag Holder's name into

I'm sure the GOP are working on that right now after that comment!

[patrice]

26. K&R

[spanone]

30. bravo, mr holder

[maindawg]

32. If you weren't born in a hospital

You don't have a birth certificate.Many older people were borne at home. In the outh, hospitals were white only. So you have people who were discriminated against as babies, who fought in wars, worked for 40 0r 50 years, paying taxes, who have been denied the right to vote by rushpubliscumbaggers.
I think you only have to have a job and pay taxes to be registered for SS.
This is fascism ,pure and simple. The rethugs are absolutely guilty of fascism in this instance.

[Gothmog]

34. In the Texas Voter Id trial, NAACP has one intervenor who does not have a birth certificate

In the Texas voter ID trial, the NAACP has one intervenor who is 92 years old and does not have a birth certificate. Under the Texas voter id law, this lady will be unable to vote. In the proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law in this case, the State of Texas and Greg Abbott want to take the position that this lady is not prejudiced by the Texas law because she can vote by mail (the Texas equivalent of absentee voting). https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxeOfQQnUr_gRmZQSGtNN1IzSmM/edit?pli=1 This is a stupid argument but is the best that Abbott and the State of Texas can do in this case. If this voter is too dangerous to be allowed to vote in person, then why is it okay for her to vote by mail?? Hint, none of these poll tax laws/voter id laws deal with absentee voting because republicans like to vote by mail or by absentee ballot.

If Ms. Tates wants to vote under this law, she has to request an absentee ballot and vote by mail. I am glad that the NAACP found Ms. Tates because she is a perfect example of why this law is bad policy.

[meaculpa2011]

39. My father was born at home...

in 1922.

I went with him a few years ago to the records department in NYC to get his birth certificate for a passport application. We got the photostat of his handwritten birth certificate.

A health department worker came to the tenement on E. 113th Street the day after he was born to take the information. Whoever it was mis-spelled his name. That's been our family name ever since.

[brewens]

33. It's maddening that when I see Democrats quote real voter fraud stats, they don't

point out that the fraud is split between both parties. Maybe it's difficult to analyze and report the actual breakdown but you know it's not all on our side. I suppose the half-wits will continue to believe it's 1000 time worse that it really is and all benefiting Democrats anyway.

[Gothmog]

35. Like the GOP Secretary of State for Indiana?

A great example of voter fraud is the Republican Secretary of State of Indiana who was recently convicted. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/02/04/418963/indiana-secretary-of-state-convicted-of-voter-fraud/

Though President Ronald Reagan called the right to vote the “crown jewel of American liberties,” many Republicans around the country have begun demanding increased voting restrictions in the name of fighting “voter fraud.” Though actual cases of voting fraud are so rare that a voter is much more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit fraud at the polls, one Republican official in Indiana has proved that lightning can strike himself.

Yesterday, a jury found Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White (R) guilty on six felony counts of voter fraud, theft, and perjury. The conviction cost White his job, though he plans to ask the judge to reduce the charges to misdemeanors and hopes to perhaps regain the position.

[LittleGirl]

38. And he used a Photo ID to Vote

except that he voted in the wrong district because he never updated his address!
Felony Voter Fraud and until then, Gov Mitch (Not my man) Daniels kept his job 'open' until he was convicted!

There's also a report of Nuns in South Bend Indiana in '08 that were denied the right to vote because they were elderly and didn't have photo IDs. They were turned away even though it was the exact same polling place they had voted at for years and the election crew KNEW THEM! Can you imagine - the law is the law - no photo, no voting.

[BumRushDaShow]

36. K&R!!!

[craigmatic]

37. He's got balls you gotta give him that.

[kemah]

40. I worked at a homeless shelter and getting IDs was very difficult and cost money

The Salvation Army has a fund to help homeless people get their IDs after they have lost them or had them stolen.
I was in charge of helping them fill out the forms, and each form mailed to get documentation cost money, birth certificates, HS transcripts, college transcripts, duplicate drivers license.

So it is a poll tax. You can not get documentation for free in order to get your photo ID

[AlbertCat]

42. Fed elections should all be run the same!

... from state to state. The rules and procedures should be identical for all 50 states in a fed election.

State elections can vary from state to state, but Fed elections should have the same rules, same procedures and the same voting apparatus.

N'est pas?



And Election Day should be a day off from work.

[freshwest]

44. Exactly! Trying to repeal the Civil Rights Voting Act. Can't be more clear than that.

[SusanaMontana41]

45. Finally! The attorney general woke up to the GOP's renewed effort

since 2008 to disenfranchise black voters. I hope he isn't too late to the party.

[Uncle Joe]

46. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Bozita.

[southmost]

47. great

[mercymechap]

48. Sock it to them, Eric.

No wonder they were so gung-ho to have you ousted - they know you won't put up with their crap.