Jon Christian Ryter -- Liberals Block Voter ID

LIBERALS BLOCK VOTER ID

By Jon Christian Ryter

October 4, 2006

NewsWithViews.com

On September 19, 2005 the Commission on Federal Election Reform co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Bush-41 Secretary of State James A. Baker III laid out an 87-point program to eliminate vote fraud in the United States. The program began with a simplistic, common sense approach�making sure the voter is who he or she says they are. Carter and Baker urged Congress to enact legislation that would require all voters to present a State-issued photo ID in order to vote in any federal election. Only three members of the Carter-Baker Commission dissented from the group's recommendation. They were former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle [D-SD], former National Council of La Raza President Raul Yzaguirre, and liberal George Washington University Law School professor Spencer Overton.

The Commission, formed by the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American Catholic University, was implemented to solve a growing problem in American elections: the rapidly escalating number of ineligible non-citizen voters being recruited by far left grassroots organizations and the Democratic Party�estimated to be between 12 and 20 million voters�to help the Democrats, who control 85% of all voting precincts in the nation, win elections. The Democrats are counting on this secret weapon to help them take back the House and Senate in 2006, and then reclaim the White House in 2008.

There is a sobering reality in American politics today: By a margin of about 80% to 20%, the American people feel that voting is so important that voters should be required to produce a photo ID to confirm they are before they are allowed to vote. Voting is the sacred trust of democracy. Voting is "revolution by ballot." Every two years the people have the power to radically alter the direction of the central government of the United States. It is a privilege most Americans take too lightly, and its an obligation too many Americans ignore completely.

For a brief moment every four years the American people hold all of the power. With their vote they can actually change the direction of their nation�and the world�based on how they "invest" their vote. And that bothers the overlords at the pinnacle of political power. The American voters have become increasingly nationalistic. The levers in the voting booths are tethered to that nationalist spirit. We want our borders sealed. We want our job base at home protected�and we want the illegal aliens among us apprehended, detained and deported. And, most of all, we want our borders sealed. We don't want the illegals who stole their way into our country to have "amnesty." And we don't want them to pay a $3,200 fine and receive a grant of citizenship. And, we certainly don't want illegals voting in our elections just because the liberals who need their votes to promote their utopian agenda argue that our laws affect them, too.

Illegals aliens, estimated by those who need their votes at between 12 million and 20 million, possess the ability to turn any election if their votes are harnessed on Nov. 7, 2006 and Nov. 4, 2008. Thanks to MoveOn.org and scores of far left 527 advocacy groups, over 5 million unregistered, underaged, or illegal or multiple proxy voters cast their votes for John Kerry in 2004. Although they had no legal right to vote in the presidential election of 2004, they came close to handing Kerry the keys to the White House. Even with record voter turnout, 78 million Americans who were legally entitled to vote in the United States, stayed home in 2004.

Within 100 days of the Carter-Baker Commission voter ID Card recommendation, the State legislatures in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin initiated legislation to require all voters to present State-issued voter ID cards in order to vote. Michigan, which has had a voter ID law since 1997 is now fighting a lawsuit filed in the Michigan Supreme Court by former Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley (a Democrat) who argued that the Voter ID law violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by penalizing those without the money to pay for photo identification cards. As Kelley filed his action to declare the law unconstitutional, the Michigan Democratic Party�which could not defeat the legislation in 1997, and the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus filed amicus friend-of-the-court briefs. The Michigan Supreme Court agreed, in a 5 to 2 decision, to review the law.

In July, Democratic officials in Missouri filed suit in Cole County Circuit Court to vacate that State's new Voter ID law on the grounds that it will cost Cole County $6 million to implement it�a violation of a 1980 State law that requires the State government to fund any new or expanded regulatory initiatives. A handpicked liberal judge in Georgia ruled the a voter ID law violated the 1st and 14th Amendments. The Wisconsin voter ID law, now being challenged by liberals, requires voters to produce a valid drivers' license as proof of identity to vote. Every State that has enacted laws designed to make voters prove they are eligible to vote are now being challenged by Democrats and by Democratic advocacy groups.

On March 2, 2006 Congressman Henry Hyde [R-IL] introduced the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 that would require all voters to possess State-issued photo identification to prove [a] they are US citizens and [b] that they are eligible to vote in federal elections. In addition, the new law amended the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 by revoking the clause in that law that would allow prospective voters to register and vote on the same day unless the prospective voter produced a State-issued photo ID and evidence to prove they are citizens of the United States. To insulate the law from legal challenges by liberal federal judges who might construe any cost associated with purchasing a State-issued voter ID card as a poll-tax, the law would provide that indigent voters be provided the cards without charge�and that the States be reimbursed by the federal government for any costs they would incur in implementing the law in order to prevent liberals at State level from challenging the new law.

Even though Section 4 of the legislation said: "This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in November 2006 and each succeeding election for Federal office," to get the legislation through the House, the GOP leadership foolishly agreed that the law would not take affect until 2010�letting the Democrats capitalize on over 11 million potential illegal voters in the elections of 2006 and 2008. Of course, if the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 does not successfully run the Senate juggernaut and become law before the November election it will never become law. The liberals plan to use the voting rights laws enacted during the Clinton years (before the GOP learned how to run Congress) to unseat the Republicans in November. If the Democrats regain control of Congress, legislation that prevents illegals from voting in US elections will never see the light of day.

As the House passed the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006, House Speaker Dennis Hastert [R-IL] said: "Every election cycle we hear stories of voter fraud, and stories of non-citizens voting in our elections. That is why the Voter ID Act is the common sense step towards bringing integrity to our elections." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi [D-CA] and Democratic House Whip Steny Hoyer [D-MD], who fought hard to keep the legislation from passing, issued statements declaring that the legislation, if passed by the Senate and signed by the President, would disenfranchise every minority group in the country.

On her Congressional website, Pelosi issued the following statement: "'This cannot be.' With those words, Judge Jackson Bedford yesterday [September 19, 2006] struck down the infamous Georgia voter photo ID law. Let me repeat: 'This cannot be.' Let these words guide us here, because right here in this House of Representatives, we take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. That Constitution guarantees all America [sp] citizens the right to vote and the right for their vote to be counted...Today, however, we are undermining that right to vote, and the reauthorization of the VRA. And in doing so, we are undermining our democracy. Though the right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, the bill be debate today [sp] would in effect disenfranchise millions of American voters: the elderly, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, people with disabilities, and the list goes on. As the NAACP has said, this bill 'would disenfranchise many of the very citizens that the VRA is designed to protect.' And, the Republicans call that integrity. I don't think so. Supporters of this Republican voter suppression bill will claim this bill is about preventing non-citizens from voting. It's just the opposite. It's a bill designed to prevent citizens from voting. Non-citizens are strictly prohibited under law from voting, and face tough penalties for breaking those laws. Non-citizens are strictly prohibited under law from voting and face rough penalties for breaking these laws�and that's right. No one condones fraud. There is little evidence anywhere in the country of a significant problem with non-citizen voters, as our distinguished ranking member pointed out..." Five million illegal votes in 2004 did not pose a problem for Democrats since they were the beneficiaries. "...If you want to make a case," Pelosi said, "document it. Just don't claim it and then come through with a clear and transparent attempt to cut off the votes of those who don't share your political point of view." Once again, the House Minority Leader parsed her words with a straight face.

The Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006 is a no-brainer for the American people since it's clear to anyone who looks at the legislation that the bill serves only one purpose�to keep voting honest and prevent illegal aliens from casting ballots in American elections. On her website, Pelosi listed several ultraliberal organizations that were opposed to citizens being required to produce photo ID proof of their right to vote, arguing that it was outrageous that people should have to prove they are citizens of the United States before being allowed to cast a ballot. Among the organizations opposed to the bill was the National Council of La Raza�which, of course, has a vested interest in making sure those they represent�illegal aliens�have no roadblocks between them and the voting booth.

Fierce opposition has been launched not only by Hispanic rights groups like La Raza, but also by MoveOn.org, the ACLU, Americans for Democratic Action, People for the American Way and a myriad of other far left minority-rights groups bent on destroying the Constitution and the way of life in America as we know it.

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Pelosi disagreed, arguing that even the name of the legislation is misleading. "Integrity?" she scoffed, "It's not about integrity. It's about a tawdry attempt by Republicans to suppress the votes of millions of Americans," adding that regardless what the GOP does to disguise their motives by giving photo IDs to the poor without charge, it's still a poll tax. Only, instead of money, Pelosi argued, they are charging the poor "time" they simply don't have to secure the documents they will need to before they can vote. Even though the ID cards will be free Pelosi said, "...the Republican voter-suppression bill is a modern day poll tax." Congressman Vernon Ehlers [R-MI] countered Pelosi's argument by reminding the public that consumers already undergo identity checks every time they buy a pack of cigarettes or a six-pack of beer. Of course, to the left, the issue is not so much identification as it is State-issued identification that verifies the recipients are United States citizens�and that they are eligible to vote.