Judiciary Hearing on Voter Suppression
February 26th, 2008 by KarinaThe Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held an oversight hearing on voter suppression this morning. The Subcommittee voted 6-4 to authorize the Chairman of the Committee to issue a subpoena to J. Kenneth Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State, for testimony and related documents at a hearing before the Subcommittee regarding voter suppression. On January 29, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler wrote a letter inviting J. Kenneth Blackwell to explore the state of voting rights and the allocation of resources to end voter suppression and voter fraud. J. Kenneth Blackwell has refused to appear voluntarily.
Testifying today was Asheesh Agarwal, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U. S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Hon. Tom Emmer, Deputy Minority Leader, Minnesota State House of Representatives, J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director & Director of Litigation, The Campaign Legal Center, Lorraine C. Minnite Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Barnard College, and Hilary O. Shelton, Director, Washington Bureau of the NAACP.
Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Questions DoJ’s Asheesh Agarwal about the Justice Department’s lack of effort in prosecuting voter suppression:
Chairman Conyers:“Do you believe that Voter ID laws increase voting among minorities?
Asheesh Agarwal:“The Department has not taken a position on the policy angles regarding voter identification laws.” |
Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Nadler Questions DoJ’s Asheesh Agarwal about voter suppression:
Chairman Nadler:“There were complaints of vote caging in FL, NV, WI, OH in 2004. How many vote caging investigations were initiated by the Department in response to these complaints?” |
Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz Questions DoJ’s Asheesh Agarwal about voter suppression:
Rep. Wasserman-Schultz:“I would think that it would be more important for the Department to be ensuring that we have more qualified registered voters on the rolls as opposed to making sure we aggressively purge voters when much of that purging in recent years has been shown to be overly aggressive and purged voters who were valid and belonged on the rolls.” |
Rep. Keith Ellison Questions DoJ’s Asheesh Agarwal about voter suppression:
Rep. Ellison: “[John Tanner] had been reported as saying ‘while it’s a shame that elderly voters may be disenfranchised by new voter ID restrictions at the polls because many of them don’t have driver’s licenses, minorities don’t have to worry about that because they die first.’ …Was he right?” … Asheesh Agarwal: “I’m not here to throw dirt on John Tanner.” |
Lorraine C. Minnite Testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about voter suppression:
Lorraine C. Minnite:” Contrary to what has been suggested here, there is no evidence that ID laws increase confidence in voting or increase voting.” |
J. Gerald Hebert Testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about voter suppression:
J. Gerald Hebert:“To bring these schemes to an end will require vigorous prosecution by the United States Department of Justice. But the Justice Department’s priorities have shifted over the years, with the Department under the current Administration not only ignoring vote caging schemes, but actively working to give them a boost in the courts.” |