By Jeffrey T. Kuhner The Washington Times
December 31, 2011
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. claims Jim Crow is returning. In a
recent speech, Mr. Holder said that attempts by states to pass voter
identification laws will disenfranchise minorities, rolling back the clock
to the evil days of segregation. He said that a growing number of minorities
fear that “the same disparities, divisions and problems” now afflict America
as they did in 1965 prior to the Voting Rights Act. According to the Obama
administration, our democracy is being threatened by racist Republicans.
Hence, the Justice Department must prevent laws requiring a photo ID to vote
from being enacted.
This would be comical if the consequences were not so serious. South
Carolina’s legislation provides for free ID cards to be given to anyone who
needs it. Not one person – white, black or brown – is discriminated against
or discouraged from casting a vote at the ballot box. Moreover, the Supreme
Court already has ruled on the issue – upholding state voter ID laws. In the
2008 Crawford v. Marion County Election Board decision, the high court held
that an Indiana law mandating photo identification at the voting booth was
indeed constitutional. If it is good enough for the Supreme Court and the
overwhelming majority of the states, then it should be for Mr. Holder as
well.
It isn’t. And the reason is simple: The administration is trying to whip up
minority frenzy, propagating the myth of widespread ballot suppression. The
goal is to foster a sense of racial persecution of blacks, intending to
maximize voter turnout in November. The results, however, will be to poison
race relations further. Mr. Holder is cynically playing the race card in
order to achieve President Obama’s overriding ambition: re-election.
Racism has nothing to do with states implementing voter ID laws. Rather, it
is about protecting the integrity of our electoral system.. Voter fraud is
rampant; abuses regularly take place. In Chicago, local elections are often
marred by ballot stuffing and multiple voting – including by false voters
who use the names of deceased individuals. Indiana election officials have
found that, during the 2008 Democratic primary, countless pro-Barack Obama
and pro-Hillary Rodham Clinton signatures were falsified. In Minnesota,
voter fraud enabled Democrat Al Franken to steal the election from incumbent
Republican Sen. Norm Coleman. It is precisely to preserve the fundamental
basis of our democracy – one person, one vote – that voter ID laws are
necessary.
Stealing an election is not beyond this administration. After all, it’s the
Chicago Way.
