Artur Davis

Former Dem Rep. Artur Davis Still Wouldn't Provide Examples Of Voter Fraud

Ryan J. Reilly | November 22, 2011, 5:30PM

Former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis, who now supports voter ID laws as a method of preventing voter fraud but refuses to discuss any particular instances he says he witnessed, is again declining to provide any examples of voter fraud he witnessed, claiming doing so would turn the debate over voter ID laws into a 'he-said-he-said' controversy.

"If you think I made it up, you're entitled to do that, and if you think there's no credibility and I just made it up because I had nothing to do some day, that's your prerogative," Davis told TPM in a phone interview on Tuesday.

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Topics: Artur Davis, Voter Identification, Voter suppression, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud, voter intimidation

voter fraud

GOP New Mexico Sec of State Finds Tiny Fraction Of The Voter Fraud She Alleged

Ryan J. Reilly | November 18, 2011, 4:22PM

New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran said earlier this year that her state had a "culture of corruption" and referred 64,000 voter registration records to police that she thought were possible cases of voter fraud. Now a new report from her office proves she was completely right, 0.0296875 percent of the time.

Duran's interim report now alleges that 104 voters -- about one for every 10,577 on the rolls -- were illegally registered to vote. Of that group, just 19 -- or approximately one for every 57,894 registered voters -- actually allegedly cast a ballot they shouldn't have.

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Topics: Voter Identification, Voter suppression, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud

Voting Rights Act

DOJ: Texas Has Provided 'Incomplete' Information In Probe Of Rick Perry Signed Voter ID Law

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2011, 5:45PM

Texas provided "incomplete" information that does not enable federal officials to determine whether their proposed voter ID law would be discriminatory, the Justice Department said in a letter Wednesday.

Essentially, the letter from DOJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section Chief T. Christian Herren Jr. restarts the clock on when the Department has to make a decision about whether the law signed by Gov. Rick Perry complies with the Voting Rights Act. They have 60 days from when Texas sends them complete information.

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Topics: Civil Rights, Civil Rights Division, Civil Rights Division Voting Section, Department of Justice, Justice Department, Rick Perry, Voting Rights Act

voter fraud

Tennessee Resident: I Really Had To Fight To Get A Free Voter ID

Ryan J. Reilly | November 14, 2011, 2:35PM

Updated: 4:07PM

Most people would have just paid the $8 fee to obtain a photo ID required to vote in Tennessee. Not Lee Campbell. The retired teacher and his wife fought for their right to a free photo ID and on Monday went to Capitol Hill to complain about what he called a "poll tax."

Campbell, a Utah native who taught and served as a teacher and a guidance counselor for 42 years and has voted in every presidential election since 1964, testified before a panel sponsored by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee on Monday that he "experienced first-hand the harmful impact of all these voting changes that are springing up across America."

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Topics: House Judiciary, Voter Identification, Voter suppression, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud, voter intimidation

Voting

Maine Approves Same-Day Voter Registration, After State GOP Suggested Initiative Was Pro-Gay

Ryan J. Reilly | November 9, 2011, 11:35AM

Despite a warning from Maine's Republican party that a gay rights group supported same day registration, state voters restored the option by a three-to-two margin Tuesday night.

"Maine has long prided itself on high voter participation, sparked by its long-standing practice of Same Day Registration (SDR)," Miles Rapoport, president of Demos and former Connecticut Secretary of State, said in a statement. "Now Maine's citizens have spoken loud and clear: They will not allow people who want to discourage real participation to diminish Maine's commitment to democracy."

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Topics: Maine, Voting, Voting Rights Act

Eric Holder

Holder: Voting Restriction Efforts 'Inconsistent' With American Values

Ryan J. Reilly | November 8, 2011, 2:14PM

Efforts to make it more difficult for voters to cast a ballot are inconsistent with American values and will be thoroughly investigated by DOJ's Civil Rights Division, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday.

"This Department of Justice will be aggressive at looking at this jurisdictions that have attempted for whatever reason to restrict the ability of people to get to the polls," Holder said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

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Topics: Eric Holder, Voter Data, Voter Identification, Voter suppression, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud, voter intimidation

Maine

Maine GOP Ad: The Gays Are Trying To Impose Same Day Voter Registration

Ryan J. Reilly | November 8, 2011, 10:00AM

Here's an interesting way to rally opposition to a ballot proposition that would allow for same-day voter registration: convince voters that its being pushed by gay activists and their pro-gay agenda.

That's what the Maine Republican Party did with ads they paid thousands of dollars to run in Maine newspapers.

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Topics: Maine, Voter suppression, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud