Election Reform
A fundamental tenet of our democracy is the right to vote and have that vote counted. We must be vigilant in protecting this right and ensuring that our voting system is fair for every American.
Democrats are determined to reform the voting system in this country so that it includes verification, accountability, and accuracy. It is imperative that we modernize election equipment, and guarantee access to polls with common sense reforms such as Election Day registration, shorter lines, and early voting. The Democratic Party is committed to election reform and will fight for federal standards that restore confidence in our voting process.
The Supreme Court acknowledged that "The record contains no evidence of any such [impersonation] fraud actually occurring in Indiana at any time in its history," and acknowledged the law's burden on the elderly, low-income voters and other classes of voters covering hundreds of thousands of Indiana citizens. Yet this Court, ignoring the realities of life for the less affluent and powerful of the state's citizens, shrugged off these burdens and found that the law should stand.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement after Bush Republicans and the White House blocked a bill --which passed in the House Administration Committee with bipartisan support -- to help states ensure the security of our elections by providing a verified paper trail:
John McCain has staked his maverick image in part on his alleged support for campaign finance reform. But when it comes to his own campaign, he has repeatedly tried to buck campaign finance laws for his own political gain.
A while back we filed an FEC complaint against John McCain, asking them to investigate whether the McCain campaign was on the verge of violating the spending limit law he agreed to when he became eligible to receive matching funds.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain doesn't do political favors for friends.
Today on CNN's Late Edition, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean highlighted John McCain's hypocrisy on the campaign trail. Citing McCain's efforts to skirt the same campaign finance laws he once championed and his failure this week to denounce John Hagee who has made discriminatory comments, Chairman Dean contended that John McCain "has not made a case for his honesty."
Facing questions about whether the campaign leveraged eligibility for public matching funds to gain access to the ballot in several states, the McCain campaign yesterday sunk to a new low. For days the McCain campaign has been playing fast and loose with the facts surrounding McCain's FEC violations. On a call with reporters yesterday, the McCain campaign erroneously stated that the campaign was getting on the Kentucky ballot by collecting signatures. [Wall Street Journal, 2/27/08]
Watch Governor Howard Dean's appearance on MSNBC this afternoon. Chairman Dean discusses, among other things, the DNC's FEC complaint filed against John McCain's lobbyist employment program presidential campaign....
John McCain's attempt to skirt federal election law is starting to catch up to him. Word of the FEC complaint filed by the DNC yesterday was all over the news. McCain claimed that his campaign did exactly what Governor Dean...
Washington, DC - After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.
As John McCain faces renewed questions about his ties to lobbyists, the New York Times this weekend examined McCain's role in keeping a loophole open that benefited a company that lobbied him. McCain's image as a reformer who can take the influence of money and lobbyists out of Washington has been seriously undercut by letters he wrote to the FCC while serving as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee that reveal he threatened to overhaul the FCC if they closed the loophole that helped the client of a lobbyist-friend. This, along with other legal and ethical issues that have resurfaced this week have raised new questions about McCain's integrity.
The DNC announced today that it will file a complaint with the FEC against John McCain's campaign Monday, calling on the FEC to investigate whether the McCain campaign violated or is about to violate the law by ignoring the spending limit agreement and other conditions Senator McCain agreed to when he became eligible to receive federal matching funds. According to McCain's latest campaign filing, he has already spent $49.6 million and given that a month has passed, he has exceeded or is about to exceed the approximately $56.8 million spending limit.
Burnt Orange Report tells an incredible story of 1,000 young people from Prairie View A&M University who marched 7.3 miles with 1,000 community activists to the only polling location in all of rural Waller County, Texas. The group marched to...
"Today we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On this day the Democratic Party reaffirms our long commitment to civil rights and social justice. Nearly 40 years after Dr. King's death, we remain dedicated to his dream of making a better America. This year, as Republicans continue their attack on voting rights, we'll fight to protect every American's right to vote and have that voted counted."
Today the Supreme Court heard arguments on Indiana's voter ID law. Because SCOTUS Blog has a background in this stuff, I'll let them summarize:
Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments on Indiana's undemocratic voter identification law. While there has never been a report of voter impersonation fraud in Indiana, real voters - seniors, students, veterans, minorities and low-income families -have been disenfranchised at the polls because of this restrictive requirement.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) continues the Republican obstructionism parade. The nominating process in the 2008 presidential election began in Iowa last week, but the federal government's campaign-finance agency is unable to enforce the spending laws because it doesn't...
John McCain reacted angrily in February when he "blasted" a Washington Post report that scrutinized his stunning turnaround on campaign finance reform, but the report's facts were indisputable. Not only was McCain laying the groundwork to opt out of public campaign financing, he was choosing to benefit from the same "soft money" machine for his presidential campaign that he once railed against. And that was only the beginning.
In a recent e-mail to party supporters, Kansas GOP Chair Kris Kobach bragged about the Republican Party's efforts at "caging" voters. In an e-mail message sent to state Republicans, Kansas Republican Party Chairman Kris Kobach reviewed the party’s accomplishments this...
"After turning the Department of Justice's voting rights division into a voter suppression unit and pushing voter ID laws that disenfranchise seniors, young, low income, minority, and disabled voters, we now know that Republicans even used their clout to block legitimate criminal investigations to protect their cronies. This latest example of the Bush Administration putting politics over the law shows the lengths Republicans will go to hold on to power and undermine our fundamental right to vote.
Today TPMMuckracker has more excerpts from former GOP operative Allen Raymond's upcoming book. In this excerpt Allen talks about how Republicans bombarded Democrats with racist phone calls in order to drive down turnout in Rush Holt's congressional race in 2002.
The 2002 New Hampshire phone jamming scandal is still revealing the depths, and in this case the illegal depths, that Republicans are willing to stoop to in order to steal elections. A former GOP operative who served three months in prison for his part in the New Hampshire phone jamming scandal is writing a book about how the scandal reaches the highest part of the Republican Party.
Ensuring that we have reliable and secure voting systems is key to our democracy and I applaud Secretary of State Brunner for her commitment to protecting the integrity of Ohio's elections.
Some Romney supporters were caught red-handed stuffing the ballot box in a Tampa Bay, FL straw poll. Here's the video evidence:
DNC Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile issued the following joint statement after the Senate confirmed Michael Mukasey to be Attorney General of the United States:
As many of you know, GOP "caging lists" were discovered shortly before the 2004 campaign. These lists are generally used to suppress the vote by "challenging" the right of individuals to vote.
Tomorrow, the Democratic Leadership of the House Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the Voting Section of the Department of Justice, an office politicized by the Bush Administration to promote their own divisive brand of politics. Testifying at the hearing will be John Tanner, chief of the Voting Section.
Bush administration voting rights division chief John Tanner created a firestorm when he said that, "minorities don't become elderly the way white people do: They die first." Now he has apologized.
A shadowy group of right-wing Republicans recently sponsored a ballot initiative that would have changed the way California distributes its electoral votes. The effort failed, but now there are new questions about Rudy Giuliani's ties to the aborted campaign.
Rudy Giuliani attends fundraisers in New Jersey today amid growing questions about his role in the ballot initiative to rig the Electoral College in California for the presidential election.
The Supreme Court will decide whether an Indiana law that requires voters to take a current photo ID to the polls places an
unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.
Democratic National Committee Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile issued a statement in response to today's decision by the Supreme Court to hear the Indiana voter ID case.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile issued a statement urging passage of legislation granting DC full voting rights in the House of Representatives.
Republicans are sponsoring a ballot initiative in California that would change how the state distributes its electoral votes, hoping to pick up just enough seats to win the White House.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile issued the following joint statement on the 42nd anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Governor Dean and DNC Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile issued a joint statement yesterday in honor of the 42nd anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act by President Lyndon Johnson.
Democrats to conduct nationwide survey of administration of elections as part of an ongoing commitment to protecting the rights of every American
An article in this weekend’s
Miami Herald shows a clear connection between the Bush Administration, the GOP and voter suppression. According to the article Republicans have used their power and authority on three fronts, tax-exempt groups, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and US Attorneys to exaggerate claims of voter fraud and challenge the legitimacy of legal voters.
Giuliani takes a sharp right turn
An article in today’s Washington Post sheds new light on Republican efforts to politicize the Bush Justice Department by weeding out employees who were not considered loyal Republican foot soldiers. The article highlights the role of Acting Assistant Attorney General Brad Schlozman in the politically motivated hirings and firings in the civil rights division of the Justice Department.
This morning, starting at 10am, the Senate is holding a hearing about the "Fair Elections Now Act," which is sponsored by Senator Durbin.
Governor Dean sat down with Tavis Smiley last night, and sunny flagged down one key part of the interview where "he talked about the attorneys being fired for not going along with suppressing the vote."
Tim Griffin's record is about as shady as they come. In fact, the Bush administration felt they had to go around the normal Senate confirmation process to replace one of the fired US Attorneys with him.
Yesterday, Democrats united to defeat a harmful Republican amendment that would have imposed a highly restrictive voter ID law. The amendment to the Senate immigration reform bill would have created a modern day poll tax which could disenfranchise millions of Americans, specifically seniors, minorities, youth, urban and rural voters and persons with disabilities. All of these groups are less likely to have government issued photo ID's and would be forced to bear an unnecessary burden just to exercise their fundamental right to vote.
Democrats in Congress defeated a proposal by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that would have required all voters to show extra identification in order to vote. This week also revealed more Republican efforts to suppress votes-- under the guise of cracking down on voter fraud.
Donna Brazile, Chair of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute, joined the Chairs of the DNC's Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, AAPI Caucus, Seniors Coordinating Council, and Native American Coordinating Council in condemning the Bush Administration's assault on voting rights and its politicization of the Department of Justice.
The Los Angeles Times reported today that one of the U.S. Attorneys apparently targeted for politically motivated firings by the Bush Administration was singled out for trying to "protect voting rights for Native Americans."
Today I lost my right to voting representation in the United State Congress. After a year of making the daily commute from Virginia to DC, I finally moved into the city and, along the way, lost my full voting rights.
Earlier this month, there was a new effort to allow 17-year-olds to vote in Connecticut primaries if they will be of voting age once the general election approaches.
But, whatever the circumstances, McCain's speech sparked little energy among the crowd gathered at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Today, as the District of Columbia celebrates the abolition of slavery in the Nation’s Capital, residents will also rally together to call on Congress and President Bush to give DC full voting rights in the House of Representatives. The District of Columbia remains the only place in the country whose tax-paying residents do not have voting representation in the United States Congress. Instead of working to remedy this inequality, the Bush Administration has threatened to veto a bill to give DC voting rights in the House.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today demanded an end to Republican efforts to play politics with voting rights after two recent New York Times reports outlined a persistent campaign by Bush Administration officials to undermine fundamental voting rights for countless Americans. Dean’s comments come as recent reports have highlighted a five-year political campaign by Bush Republicans in the Justice Department, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and the White House to trump up charges of voter fraud in order to pursue restrictive voter ID laws that disproportionately disenfranchise minority, senior, student and disabled voters.
Democratic National Committee Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile issued the following statement on Florida restoring voting rights for ex- offenders:
Today marks a bittersweet anniversary for Republican presidential candidate John McCain's “do-anything-to-win campaign.” On March 27, 2002, President Bush signed one of his signature legislative accomplishments--the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act--into law.
Yesterday, Republicans in the House of Representatives worked to thwart an effort to secure a full vote in the House of Representatives for the District of Columbia. Instead of passing a clean bill that would give voting rights to over half a million tax-paying residents, Republicans attempted to attach an unrelated provision that would loosen the District's gun restrictions in order to stall the bill. The Republicans' blatant effort comes on the heels of news that President Bush may veto the voting rights legislation. For over 200 years, District of Columbia residents have been singled out from the rest of the country and denied the most fundamental right in our democracy.
This week the Elections Subcommittee of the House Administration Committee will begin a series of hearings on Congressman Holt's voting accessibility bill, the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act."
This week the Elections Subcommittee of the House Administration Committee will begin a series of hearings on H.R. 811, the "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act" introduced by Congressman Rush Holt (NJ-12). This legislation would require a voter verified paper ballot for every vote cast; require a routine random audit of the results in every federal election; increase security of voting systems, prohibit use of undisclosed software and wireless devices in voting systems; implement a ban on conflicts of interest between voting system vendors and test labs; and fund studies to improve accessibility for people with disabilities and those with language assistance needs:
This week, a bill which would give the District of Columbia voting rights on the floor of the House of Representatives was passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and the Government Reform Committee. This legislation is the next step in the fight to give the District of Columbia full Congressional representation. The District of Columbia has over half a million tax paying residents who are the only Americans who lack a vote on how their taxes are spent. Democrats have garnered bipartisan support for this legislation and are working to advance this issue. During its winter meeting, the Democratic National Committee passed a resolution in support of full voting rights for DC. The Bush Administration, however, has refused to say whether the President will support a DC voting rights bill.
On the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" commemorating the civil and voting rights march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in which demonstrators were assaulted by state troopers, Democratic National Committee Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile testified before the House Judiciary Committee on the need to protect the right to vote from acts of intimidation, harassment, fraud and abuse.
The following resolution was adopted by the DNC Resolutions Committee at its meeting on February 1, 2007, in conjunction with the meetings of the Democratic National Committee, February 1-3, 2007. Submitted by: Donna Brazile, At-Large/DC Anita Bonds, Chair/District of Columbia...
The following resolution was adopted by the DNC Resolutions Committee at its meeting on February 1, 2007, in conjunction with the meetings of the Democratic National Committee, February 1-3, 2007. Submitted by: Donna Brazile, At-Large/DC Mike Honda, DNC Vice Chair/California...
Today, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement on the DNC resolution advocating full voting rights for the District of Columbia: "I would like to thank Donna Brazile, who is the author of this important resolution, for her tireless and continued efforts to advocate for full voting rights on behalf of the residents of the Nation's Capitol. For too long residents of the District of Columbia have been denied Representation in the halls of Congress. The District of Columbia is home to over a half a million residents who work hard everyday, pay their taxes and serve proudly in the armed forces just like many Americans all across the country.
McCain has hired Trey Walker to manage his campaign in South Carolina. Walker, who admired the tactics used against McCain in 2000, telling a local South Carolina newspaper: "I think we were surprised by just how negative they went," said...
The Supreme Court ordered the boundaries of the 23rd District redrawn after determining that the old map discriminated against Latino voters and did not comply with the Voting Rights Act.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement on District of Columbia voting rights.
In Florida's 13th District, Democrat Christine Jennings is still fighting to make sure that every vote is counted and every voter is heard - despite flawed ballots and machines. Almost a month after Election Day, this race is still being contested in the sunshine state.
Governor Dean: "For far too long, residents of the District of Columbia have been denied full voting rights in Congress. The Democratic National Committee is on record supporting full voting rights for District residents, believing that change is long overdue....
The Washington Post is reporting today on a federal agency assessment that asserts that electronic voting machines without a paper trail "cannot be made secure." The "sweeping condemnation" of the electronic voting machines was drafted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. According to the Post, "NIST said that voting systems should allow election officials to recount ballots independently from a voting machine's software."
AP: A judge has ruled New Hampshire Democrats can go after more than just the cost of renting and using telephones that were jammed by Republicans on Election Day four years ago.
In the FL-13 election, there have been serious problems with voting machines that seem to have disenfranchised thousands of voters and handed the election to the GOP candidate. Yesterday they audited the machines and the problems were clearly evident. From...
Last week's election provided many despicable efforts on the part of the GOP to intimidate and deceive American voters. Last Tuesday, despite the efforts of Republicans, the American people went to the polls and rejected the Karl Rove politics of hate and division, and overwhelmingly voted for fundamental change.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean sent the following to Democrats this morning. Dear Friend, Today most people will simply vote and go home. That's not enough. Whether you're voting today or you've voted early or absentee already, what you do today...
The Washington Post reported today on a Republican effort to distribute a guide for GOP “poll watchers in Maryland [that] spells out how to aggressively challenge the credentials of voters and urges these volunteers to tell election judges they could face jail time if a challenge is ignored.” The Post's exposure of these GOP tactics, along with the Democratic Party's expansive voter protection program in all 50 states, will help ensure that every American’s right to vote is protected.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean sent a letter to Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman calling on the Republican leader to confirm that "the RNC will refrain from engaging in, assisting in or participating in any" program that could potentially disenfranchise voters in these midterm elections.
A day after a U.S. District Court issued a temporary restraining order suspending the Voter Identification requirements for absentee voting in Ohio, Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell flip-flopped and allowed an appeal to be filed, adding further confusion to the November 7th elections. [Columbus Dispatch, 10/27/06] The decision yesterday puts a stop to the disparate application of parts of Ohio's Election law allowing voters to cast absentee ballots without fear that they are illegally being disenfranchised.
Every Voter Counts! Color Flyer English Color Flyer Spanish/English Color Flyer Download the file(s) above. This is a full color low resolution PDF file of the Every Voter Counts doorhanger design that can be easily printed off your home...
This week, the Missouri Supreme Court dealt yet another blow to the Republican Party's efforts across the country to win elections by making it harder for Americans to vote. In a decisive 6-1 vote, the Missouri state court declared that the Republican-engineered voter ID law would have imposed a "heavy and substantial burden on Missourians' free exercise of the right of suffrage."
In California, state investigators have linked a Republican campaign to letters sent to thousands of Orange County Hispanics warning them they could go to jail or be deported if they vote next month.
During her testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Donna Brazile called on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to release a report that proves there is little evidence of the polling-place fraud that is used to justify Voter ID around the country.
In many states, new laws restricting who can register and vote have reduced the number of people who are eligible to cast ballots. Most of these laws have been enacted in the name of preventing fraud. Yet, a new report to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which has not been released publicly, disputes the basis for those laws, finding, "little evidence of the type of polling-place fraud those measures seek to stop."
This past Saturday Democrats kicked-off the final month of the election with more than 600 voter contact activities across the country. Democrats contacted three million voters during the DNC's third national organizing day, demonstrating the strength of the Democratic ground game heading into the final days of the campaign.
On Saturday, October 7, Democrats will kick-off the final month of voter contact activities at Democratic National Organizing Day events across the country, building on the success of ongoing critical Get-Out-the-Vote operations for Election Day.
While Bush Republicans in Washington claim to support voting rights, House Republicans this week passed a voter identification bill that threatens to disenfranchise countless minority, student, elderly, people with disabilities and low income voters. The bill is effectively a poll tax that will keep thousands of lawfully registered voters from participating in our democracy.
The November 7th mid term congressional and statewide elections are around the corner -- and fears and concerns about the integrity of our electoral system and the security of paperless electronic voting systems have increased daily.
Yesterday the Republican controlled Congress passed
H.R. 4844, a bill that would disenfranchise thousands of voters by requiring them to obtain and produce government issued photo ID proving their citizenship before they could vote in essence creating the equivalent of a national poll tax.
Laws that make it harder for Americans to exercise their freedom to vote are fast becoming one of the most popular pages in the GOP Playbook. From The Macon Telegraph: The fight over Georgia's voter ID law appears headed to...
Democracy at Risk: The 2004 Election in Ohio http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/06/democracy_at_ri.php DNC Voting Rights Institute http://www.democrats.org/vri DC Democratic Lawyers Council http://www.dcdlc.org New York Democratic Lawyers Council http://www.nydlc.org Texas Democratic Lawyers Council http://www.txdlc.org National Democratic Law Student Council http://www.lawschooldems.org...
This week, voting rights activists in Ohio filed a federal lawsuit demanding that Secretary of State Ken Blackwell preserve the paper ballots from the 2004 election and that a court-appointed supervisor be selected to oversee the conduct of this November’s election.
This week, voting rights activists in Ohio filed a federal lawsuit demanding that Secretary of State Ken Blackwell preserve the paper ballots from the 2004 election and that a court-appointed supervisor be selected to oversee the conduct of this November’s...
One of two potential voting machines which could be implemented in New York in time for the November election, may affect voter turnout. The digital-recording electronic system (D.R.E.) has a higher rate of unrecorded votes, a problem officials say could...
A Jefferson County judge ruled that an unclear Alabama state law allows felons to register to vote. State law says that felons do not have the right to vote if they have committed crimes of moral turpitude, however, moral turpitude...
The main event for the 3 day-long DNC Meeting in Chicago was Saturday's General Session. The General Session brings together the full membership of the DNC to conduct the official business of the Democratic National Committee. Governor Dean speaks with...
The following resolution was passed by the Democratic National Committee at its meeting on August 19, 2006. Submitted by: Donna Brazile, At-Large/DC Lottie Shackelford, DNC Vice Chair/Arkansas Steven K. Alari, California Mark Bryant, Missouri Yolanda Caraway, At-Large/DC Renee Gill Pratt,...
An editorial in today's
New York Times outlines how Republicans in Missouri and other states are using discriminatory voter ID laws to suppress voting and disenfranchise minorities, poor people, and elderly people who are less likely to have driver's license.
DNC Marks the 41st Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
Washington, DC—Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement on the 41st anniversary of the historic Voting Rights Act:
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today announced the DNC's expanded national voter protection efforts. In addition to the establishment of a national voter protection hotline and the placement of election protection staff in 15 key states, the DNC is implementing a comprehensive series of efforts aimed at helping Americans register to vote, learn how and where to cast their ballot, and provide assistance in overcoming Republican-led efforts to suppress voter turnout for the November elections.
An editorial in today's New York Times outlines how the Bush Justice Department is playing partisan politics again with the enforcement of voting rights and election law. Yesterday, a federal judge, appointed by President Bush, stripped Alabama's Democratic Secretary of State of very important duties in "a one-sided proceeding that felt a lot like a kangaroo court," giving them to the Republican governor prior to both being up for re-election. This extraordinary, partisan step against a Democrat stands in stark contrast to the Justice Department's "forgiving approach" when dealing with Republican Secretaries of State. Despite President Bush's signing of the Voting Rights Reauthorization just last week, this action is part of his administration's troubling pattern of putting its desire to influence elections ahead of the need to protect the voting rights of all Americans.
The news of changes in the policies of The Justice Department justs keep getting worse. Not only are they replacing career civil rights professionals with political appointees, but they are actively subverting the Democratic process. From The New York Times:...
Today, President Bush signed the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. Despite this historic and important move, as DNC Voting Rights Institute Chairwoman Donna Brazile noted in her column in the Roll Call newspaper, while "Congress was debating the merits of extending the VRA for 25 more years, our democratic process was under assault in a number of areas." From "the decision by the Supreme Court to uphold Texas' partisan, middecade redistricting plan to the attempt by Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R) to criminalize standard voter registration drive practices to the continued vulnerabilities of electronic voting machines, the integrity of our elections is under constant assault," wrote Brazile. [Roll Call, 7/25/06]
The Bush Administration has dramatically changed the hiring procedures for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Instead of hiring career attorneys with strong backgrounds in civil rights law, political appointees have been tasked with hiring new attorneys and are filling the Division with attorneys who have less experience, but more conservative credentials.
