Illegal voters are about as common as honest Bush appointees in the Justice Department

[CatWoman]

Former metro Atlantan Hans von Spakovsky is among the GOP hacks who perverted the U.S. Department of Justice — trashing constitutional principles, rewarding partisanship over competence and converting the entire machinery into an arm of the Republican Party. His specialty was suppressing voting by Americans of color, who are more likely to support Democrats; he played a starring role in a nationwide effort to disenfranchise poor blacks, Latinos and Native Americans.

Now, von Spakovsky is seeking Senate approval for a six-year term on the Federal Election Commission, which enforces federal campaign finance laws. (President Bush gave von Spakovsky a recess appointment in January 2006, but he must have Senate confirmation for a full term.) The vote ought to be easy: No, no and no way.

A group of former Justice Department professionals — including a former chief of the Civil Rights Division's Voting Section — have stepped forward to oppose his nomination. According to The Washington Post, more than half the career lawyers in the Voting Section left in protest during his tenure.

Von Spakovsky's blatant disregard for the constitutionally guaranteed right to the franchise should disqualify him from even serving as a volunteer poll worker, much less a commissioner on the FEC. He is a leading light among the Republican activists who have whipped up the bogeyman of fraudulent voting, claiming that illegal ballots can only be stopped by stringent requirements, such as state-sponsored photo IDs, at the ballot box.

Actually, illegal voters are about as common as honest Bush appointees in the Justice Department.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tucker/stories/2007/06/23/0624edtucker.html

[lligrd]

1. Hey, I Found One

Ex-SoCal councilwoman could be deported

By ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jun 24, 12:18 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - All of her life, Zoila Meyer believed she was an American. She even won election to the City Council of Adelanto.

But now she is facing a threat of deportation for illegally voting, because she never became a citizen after being brought to this country from Cuba when she was 1 year old.

<snip>

Meyer was released pending a July 18 appearance before an immigration judge who will determine whether she will be deported to Canada, the last point of entry into the U.S. recorded in her immigration record.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070624/ap_on_re_us/councilwoman_deportation

[Bitwit1234]

2. With all the voters illegaly dropped from voter rolls

by the republicans -- up to a million or more -- does anybody in their right mind think that there are a million or more illegal voters out there, that the republicans have to prosecute.. hell no.

[EST]

3. Probably a fairly accurate observation,

especially given that it now appears cheney vetted most of the * nominations prior to their submission.

[VP505]

4. Tell me where,

besides some two horse town a few illegal voters could swing any election other than for some local office? I have worked as a Presiding Election Judge for the last 20 years, the number of people that it would take to do that would be staggering to the extent that I would say its impossible. If someone is going to steal an election they have to use methods that disenfranchise large numbers of voters or corrupt the counting process or corrupt the electronic equipment, or some other way to either shift votes or eliminate them in LARGE NUMBERS. A few dead people voting or illegal immigrants voting here and there isn't enough to affect much of anything.