In an attempt to alleviate rampant voter fraud discovered in previous elections, the state of Texas passed a new voter ID law in 2011, which the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) brazenly blocked March 12, 2012 because it claims the law would disenfranchise minority voters.
It did not matter to the DOJ that an estimated 160,000 to 333,000 non-citizens were illegally registered to vote in Texas in 2008. But then again, this is the DOJ of Attorney General Holder — who was all about repressing the white vote when he dismissed the Black Panther Party case — because he thought it demeaned “my people.” With that in mind, no one should be surprised by Holder’s state-by-state whack-a-mole game to exterminate voter ID laws.
Rick McKee / Augusta Chronicle (click to view more cartoons by McKee)
Because the Obama administration cannot run an honest election based on accomplishments, its lust for power has resulted in yet another Constitutional overreach by preventing individual states to do their job to preserve ballot box integrity. In this attempt to dismantle voter ID laws state-by-state, the administration is, in essence, stealing away one of our most basic freedoms — the right for free and fair elections — for which many Americans have fought and died.
Is it bigoted or racist to expect that Constitutional standards be upheld? Many on the left think so despite reputable research revealing that in states where voter ID is required, voter turnout improves.
One such study completed in 2006 by University of Missouri professor of economics and public affairs Jeffrey Milyo, found turnout in “Democratic-leaning counties actually increased” with the new photo ID requirements. There was no “significant evidence” that it decreased turnout in locations having higher percentages of “minority, poor or elderly voters.” Another study completed by the Universities of Nebraska and Delaware, “The Empirical Effects of Voter-ID Laws: Present or Absent,” came to a similar conclusion.
I could go on with many additional examples, but the truth matters little to those bent on twisting it to their own political advantage. Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, rivals of voter identification (ID) laws continue to participate in a careless exchange of rancorous rhetoric suggesting the requirement for voter ID is suppressive.
As I write, representatives from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) are sidestepping these undeniable truths, and crossing the ocean to file a voter ID law complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
To the unaware, this “human rights” council’s roll call includes some extremely repressive regimes like Saudi Arabia, Cuba and China. Nonetheless, President Obama threw America’s hat into the ring for membership in 2009. Former president George W. Bush boycotted participation with the HRC because doing so would legitimize this ersatz human rights organization that has overlooked barbarisms in places like Sudan’s Darfur, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
So let’s get real now. We need photo ID to get a job, cash a check, use a credit card, purchase alcohol and cigarettes, board a plane, buy medicines, watch an R-rated movie, get a passport, go to a bar, buy a house or car, buy a gun and rent an apartment. Laws are already on the books to prevent election fraud, and the Constitution puts the onus for the oversight of elections on individual states, which have the right to mandate voter ID.
Unless concerned citizens speak out by sending letters to their state’s governors demanding that they take rigorous action to ensure honest and fair elections by enforcing voter ID laws in every polling place, legitimate votes will be negated by unregistered voters, criminals, illegal aliens and the deceased. This is, after all, America — that special place on the planet where our constitutionally protected free and fair elections serve to keep us free.
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Susan Stamper Brown is an opinion page columnist, motivational speaker and military advocate who writes about politics, the military, the economy and culture. Email Susan at writestamper@gmail.com or her website at susanstamperbrown.com.
©2012 Susan Stamper Brown. Susan’s column is distributed exclusively by: Cagle Cartoons, Inc., newspaper syndicate. For info contact Cari Dawson Bartley. E-mail Cari@cagle.com, (800) 696-7561
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