Voting: January 2012 | TPMMuckraker

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Voting: January 2012

Texas Sues Feds Over Voter ID; Says 'Colorblind' Policy Bans Racial Breakdown Of Voter Data

Ryan J. Reilly | January 23, 2012, 3:30PM

The state of Texas said Monday that it can't provide voter data allowing the federal government to evaluate whether its voter ID law is discriminatory because they don't track racial and ethnic data in order to "facilitate a colorblind electoral process."

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced on Monday Texas was suing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in an effort to "fast-track" its authority to enforce a voter ID law the state claims would "help deter and detect election fraud."

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Topics: Rick Perry, Texas, Voter Identification, Voter suppression, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud

Rick Santorum

End Of Days? Rick Santorum Agrees With The ACLU

Ryan J. Reilly | January 17, 2012, 12:56PM

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (R)

Senate Republicans who agree with former Sen. Rick Santorum -- that disenfranchising felons had an unfair disparate impact on African-American communities -- have an opportunity to take a stand by backing a bill introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) back in December.

The Democracy Restoration Act would create a uniform standard for voting in federal elections and replace the patchwork of state laws currently on the books. It's backed by the American Civil Liberties Union. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) introduced the House version of the bill last year.

Santorum went after Mitt Romney during Monday night's Fox News debate for an ad sponsored by Restore Our Future (a "super PAC" backing Romney) that showed an individual in a bright orange prison outfit along with the claim that Santorum "voted to let convicted felons vote."

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Topics: Rick Santorum, Voter suppression, Voting

James O'Keefe

'Dead' Voter Talking: O'Keefe Voter Fraud Stunt Confused 23-Year-Old For Dead 84-Year-Old

Ryan J. Reilly | January 14, 2012, 2:25PM

Robert William Beaulieu is 23-years-old, lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is a registered Democrat. He's also very much not dead.

But you wouldn't have known that if you watched the lastest undercover sting video from James O'Keefe's Project Veritas, which featured a man with an Irish accent attempting to obtain a ballot on behalf of a Robert Beaulieu who lives on Cassandra Lane.

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Topics: James O'Keefe, New Hampshire, Project Veritas, Robert William Beaulieu, Voter Identification, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud

James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe Says $50K Donation Funded Voter Fraud Stunt

Ryan J. Reilly | January 12, 2012, 1:46PM

An "extremely generous donor" gave $50,000 to James O'Keefe's Project Veritas to fund their voter fraud stunt in New Hampshire on Tuesday, the conservative activist said in a email to supporters.

"Our Voter Fraud investigation is being funded with a gift of $50,000 from an extremely generous donor -- but that covers the cost of just ONE national project," O'Keefe wrote in a fundraising email.

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Topics: James O'Keefe, New Hampshire, Project Veritas, Voter Identification, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud

James O'Keefe

Election Law Experts Say James O'Keefe Allies Could Face Charges Over Voter Fraud Stunt

Ryan J. Reilly | January 11, 2012, 3:05PM

Update, Jan. 11, 5:00PM: Mark Zuckerman, a federal prosecutor in the New Hampshire U.S. Attorney's Office, told TPM he recently became aware of the Project Veritas video and was reviewing it but hadn't formed any opinion on whether it presented an issue.

It was one of the few -- if not the only -- coordinated efforts to attempt in-person voter fraud, and it was pulled off by affiliates of conservative activist James O'Keefe at polling places in New Hampshire Tuesday night. All of it part of an attempt to prove the need for voter ID laws that voting rights experts say have a unfair impact on minority voters.

Now election law experts tell TPM that O'Keefe's allies could face criminal charges on both the federal and state level for procuring ballots under false names, and that his undercover sting doesn't demonstrate a need for voter ID laws at all.

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Topics: James O'Keefe, Voter Identification, Voter suppression, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud, voter intimidation

Christopher Coates

Lawyer Defending South Carolina's Voter ID Law Thinks DOJ Is Biased Against White People

Ryan J. Reilly | January 11, 2012, 5:53AM

Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC)

Updated: Jan. 11, 11:45AM

South Carolina officials plan to file suit against the federal government because the Justice Department stopped the state from implementing a voter ID law that the state's own statistics showed would have a disparate impact on non-white voters. Fighting on their behalf will be a former DOJ official who claimed that the Civil Rights Division is opposed to protecting the civil rights of whites and who defended the Bush-era politicalization of the division by Bradley Schlozman as an effort to "diversify."

South Carolina has hired former Voting Section Chief Christopher Coates, who defied DOJ's instructions and testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights during the Republican-led probe into the infamous New Black Panther Party case, a spokesman for the South Carolina attorney general's office told The State newspaper.

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Topics: Christopher Coates, New Black Panthers, Paul Clement, Section 5, Voter Identification, Voter suppression, Voting, Voting Rights Act, voter fraud, voter intimidation

Voter Identification

Analysis: Minority Voters Overwhelmingly Rejected Mississippi Voter ID Law

Ryan J. Reilly | January 6, 2012, 1:48PM

Less than 25 percent of non-white Mississippi citizens voted in favor of a state constitutional amendment to require voter ID at the polls compared to about 83 percent of white voters, according to a newly released report.

An estimated 75 percent of the state's minority population rejected "Initiative 27," a constitutional amendment requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, while only about 17 percent of white voters went against the proposal, according to a report by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.