• Eric Holder wages war on state law demanding voter IDs
By Ronald L. Ray
In what has all the hallmarks of a racially motivated attack, Attorney General Eric Holder announced a judicial battle on September 30 that is intended to deprive North Carolina citizens of their sovereignty as a state and of their right to establish reasonable statutory measures for determining who is legally entitled to vote.
Holder is suing N.C. in federal court, seeking to overturn the recently passed Voter Identification Verification Act (VIVA), which will require voters to show ID when casting ballots in the state. By doing so, he is attempting to disenfranchise the state’s primarily white voters, as represented by the General Assembly. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Advancement Project already have filed similar lawsuits.
Several aspects of the bill that are intended to reduce voter fraud—whether voting by non-citizens or double-voting by unscrupulous individuals—have been targeted by the federal forces: requirement of suitable photographic ID in order to vote, discontinuance of same-day voter registration during early voting, a reduction by one week of the early voting period and repeal of preregistration by 16- and 17-year-olds. VIVA also provides that all persons—including college students —typically must now vote in the precinct where they are registered, and new requirements are established for the counting of provisional ballots.
In a prepared statement full of Orwellian doublespeak, outright misrepresentations and inflammatory language seemingly calculated to arouse racial enmities, Holder denounced VIVA as containing “unwarranted voter restrictions,” even calling it “highly restrictive.”
It seems that, in the federal government’s view, attempting to ensure that only qualified electors exercise the vote is somehow racially discriminatory against blacks and Latinos, even though no mention of race or other identifying factor of person is mentioned in the law. The act applies equally to everyone.
Responding to Holder, N.C. Governor Pat McCrory stated, “I believe if showing a voter ID is good enough and fair enough for our own president [Obama] in Illinois, then it’s good enough for the people in North Carolina.”
A review of the 16-page VIVA text by this writer revealed nothing dissimilar from laws in force in other states, nor anything discriminatory against a class of persons legitimately entitled to vote. In fact, contrary to mainstream media assertions, VIVA contains measures to ensure that every registered person who presents himself can cast at least a provisional ballot, with multiple levels of review to ensure its validity. Several forms of photo ID are acceptable, free ID cards are available in some cases and expired ID cards may be used in certain circumstances.
This has not stopped the mainstream media, however, from engaging in irresponsible and false attacks using Holder’s press statement as a boilerplate. So much for independent journalism.
While the Department of Justice (DoJ) will attempt to show “discriminatory effect” of the law, which does not go into effect until 2016 in order to allow for voter education and obtaining of proper ID, Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires that “discriminatory intent” must be shown in the law, a hurdle that will be difficult for Holder to jump.
The announcement of the lawsuit against N.C. is only the latest in a series of attacks by the federal government on states’ constitutional and natural rights to regulate elections within their borders. The DoJ also has gone after similar laws in Texas. Holder has also threatened to move against Kansas laws as well, where photo IDs have been required since 2012 and where this year it is now required to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, if one intends to do so in state and local elections. Kansas Governor Sam Brownback showed no sign of submitting to Holder’s harassment in the heartland state, which has moved to the forefront of the states’ rights battle.
Along with Obamacare, gun freedom and restrictions on the heinous crime of abortion, voting laws are at the center of a pivotal battle between defenders of the Constitution and totalitarian bureaucrats in the federal capital.
Ronald L. Ray is a freelance author residing in the free state of Kansas. He is a descendant of several patriots of the American War for Independence.
