3/19/14, "Judge Says U.S. Must Help States Enforce Voter ID Laws," NY Times, , Phoenix
"A federal judge in Kansas on Wednesday ordered federal election
authorities to help Kansas and Arizona require their voters to show
proof of citizenship in state and local elections, in effect sanctioning
a two-tier voter registration system that could well set a trend for
other Republican-dominated states.
The judge, Eric F. Melgren of Federal District Court in Wichita, Kan., ruled
that the Election Assistance Commission had no legal authority to deny
requests from Kansas and Arizona to add state-specific instructions to a
national voter registration form, and ordered the agency to add the
language requested by the states. Kansas and Arizona had sued the agency
to force the action.
The Supreme Court ruled last June that Congress has full power over federal election rules but it left open whether states could require proof of citizenship in their own elections. Federal rules require prospective voters only to sign a form attesting to their citizenship, a procedure favored by Democrats who want to increase participation of minorities and the poor in elections, but which Republican officials say fosters voter fraud.
The Supreme Court ruled last June that Congress has full power over federal election rules but it left open whether states could require proof of citizenship in their own elections. Federal rules require prospective voters only to sign a form attesting to their citizenship, a procedure favored by Democrats who want to increase participation of minorities and the poor in elections, but which Republican officials say fosters voter fraud.
“Because
the Court finds that Congress has not pre-empted state laws requiring
proof of citizenship through the National Voter Registration Act, the
Court finds the decision of the EAC denying the states’ requests to be
unlawful and in excess of its statutory authority” Judge Melgren wrote.'
The
Arizona attorney general, Tom Horne, said in an interview that, “This
decision is an important victory against the Obama administration
because it ensures that only U.S. citizens, and not illegals, vote in
Arizona elections.”
Richard
L. Hasen, an expert on voting regulations at the University of
California, Irvine, wrote in a blog on Wednesday, “The upshot of this
opinion, if it stands on appeal, is that states with Republican
legislatures and/or Republican chief election officials are likely to
require documentary proof of citizenship for voting, making it harder
for Democrats to pursue a relatively simple method of voter
registration.”
If
the two-tier system moves forward, states that use it would make
separate ballots covering only federal races for voters who do not
provide proof of citizenship.
Judge
Melgren wrote in his decision that because states have the right to
data — including citizenship documentation — that would help them
determine voter eligibility, and because both states had already
concluded that oaths declaring citizenship were insufficient proof of
citizenship, that the commission’s ruling was “without legal support and
is incorrect.”
More than 10,000 Kansas voters have had their voting rights suspended for failing to provide proof of citizenship."
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Comment: At least for this day, Dad didn't risk his life and spend years of his youth fighting to save this country for nothing.
Dad with his Stearman biplane sometime in the 1940's. He flew B 29's in the Pacific. In 2014, he keeps busy in New Jersey.
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