MInority Vote Suppressor Von Spakovsky Up for VOTE to the FEC! PLS CALL

[mod mom]

from Velvet Underground:

September 26, 2007




The Senate Rules Committee will vote Wednesday, September 26th on whether Hans von Spakovsky, the former Justice Department official who former employees say was key to the politicization of voting rights section, will get a term on the Federal Elections Commission. Von Spakovsky is also a veteran of Republican efforts to target voter fraud.

Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) wants a vote on each nominee separately (as opposed to considering all four nominees, Democratic and Republican, in one vote) and she continues to have serious concerns about Von Spakovsky.

Former employees of the voting section mounted serious opposition to von Spakovsky's nomination, with a group writing in a letter to the committee that he'd been "the point person for undermining the Civil Rights Division's mandate to protect voting rights." Von Spakovsky, however, portrayed himself during his confirmation hearing as just a lawyer in the section who gave advice when it was asked. It was a portrayal with real problems --- as Von Spakovsky himself tacitly acknowledged when he modified his testimony in later written answers to the commit tee.

Von Spakovsky also sought to spike accusations that he'd retaliated against wrong-thinking employees (i.e. lawyers overly-preoccupied with African-Americans' voting rights) by, among other things, adding negative comments to their performance evaluations. But two former lawyers told us that he'd done just that --- and then went so far as to stifle their appeals of the changes. President Bush put von Spakovsky on the FEC as a recess appointment in December, 2005.

PLEASE CALL Senate Rules Committee and Feinstein (D-CA) here: 202-224-6352

[mod mom]

1. Brennan Center for Justice has many of the letters of opposition:

Hans von Spakovsky

Resources on FEC nominee Hans von Spakovsky relating to voter fraud and alleged attempts to combat voter fraud.

Letters in Opposition to Confirmation of FEC Nominee Hans von Spakovsky:

Letter from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law in Opposition to von Spakovsky Nomination (9/25/07)
Letter from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Opposition to von Spakovsky Nomination (9/25/07)
Letter from the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights in Opposition to von Spakovsky Nomination (9/20/07)
Letter from Former DOJ Voting Section Staff to Senate Rules Committee in Response to von Spakovsky June 13th Testimony (signed by Joseph D. Rich, Robert A. Kengle, Stephan B. Pershing, Jon Greenbaum, David J. Becker, Bruce Adelson and Toby Moore, 6/18/07)
Letter from American Civil Liberties Union to Senate Rules Committee in Opposition to von Spakovsky Nomination to FEC (6/12/07)
Letter from Georgia Delegation to Senate Rules Committee in Opposition to von Spakovsky Nomination to FEC (signed by Reps. John Lewis, Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., David Scott, Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, John Barrow and Jim Marshall, 6/12/07)
Obama Raises Concerns Over FEC Nominee’s Record of Partisanship (Sen. Obama, press release, 6/12/07)
Letter from Former DOJ Voting Section Staff to Senate Rules Committee in Opposition to von Spakovsky Nomination to FEC (signed by Joseph D. Rich, Robert A. Kengle, Jon Greenbaum, David J. Becker, Bruce Adelson and Toby Moore, 6/11/07)


http://www.truthaboutfraud.org/hans_von_spakovsky.html

[Frances]

2. Done

Isn't DU great? I would not have thought to call if it hadn't been for this post.

The person who answered the phone said Feinstein had received many phone calls this morning about the issue and that my opposition put me in the majority as far as phone calls.

The person didn't say how Feinstein would vote, though, so please keep those phone calls coming.

(My spiel was a true one. I helped African Americans register to vote in the Civil Rights era and was intimidated by the local sheriff for doing so. I hate that we have to go through all this again.)

[mod mom]

3. thank you for doing this. I wish there was better response here.

This went out on Election Reform list servs, and I think those folks are motivated to depose of this guy. It has also been up at Firedoglake and Talking Points Memo (which closely followed the US Attorney scandal). I'm glad you were told many calls had come in, as I did not hear this when I called. I notified some attorneys at the House Judiciary Committee because I know Conyers would be opposed and I was afraid it might have gone under the radar.

Again, thanks for your efforts both past and present. I got involved in this issue much later, after '04 when I witnessed that blatant disenfranchisement of Af Am voters in Ohio in precincts I personally canvassed.

[Frances]

4. I got involved through a fluke

A person called my house thinking my husband was someone else. Anyway, we got to talking and this stranger invited us to help with voter registration. We wouldn't have gotten involved otherwise, not because we didn't believe that everyone should be allowed to vote but because we wouldn't have known what to do to help register people.