While the Supreme Court will be considering in Conference this Thursday a law recently passed here in the great State of Georgia requiring voter pre-verification in order to determine citizen eligibility to vote, top conservative blogger Michelle Malkin pulls together further links on the subject as well as a press release from GA Secretary of State Karen Handel:

First, Attorney General Eric Holder and the DOJ protect the New Black Panther Party bullies who menaced a Philly voting station last fall.

Now, Holder and the DOJ are opening the voter fraud floodgates in Georgia. The Georgia secretary of state explains:

Obama Justice Department Decision Will Allow Non-Citizens to Register to Vote in Georgia
Decision Bars Georgia From Continuing Voter Verification Process

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel issued the following statement following the U.S. Department of Justice’s denial of preclearance of Georgia’s voter verification process:

Atlanta – “The decision by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to deny preclearance of Georgia’s already implemented citizenship verification process shows a shocking disregard for the integrity of our elections. With this decision, DOJ has now barred Georgia from continuing the citizenship verification program that DOJ lawyers helped to craft. DOJ’s decision also nullifies the orders of two federal courts directing Georgia to implement the procedure for the 2008 general election. The decision comes seven months after Georgia requested an expedited review of the preclearance submission.

“DOJ has thrown open the door for activist organizations such as ACORN to register non-citizens to vote in Georgia’s elections, and the state has no ability to verify an applicant’s citizenship status or whether the individual even exists. DOJ completely disregarded Georgia’s obvious and direct interest in preventing non-citizens from voting, instead siding with the ACLU and MALDEF. Clearly, politics took priority over common sense and good public policy. … 

“This decision provides a specific example of the inherently illogical and unfair nature of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. It is a sad day for the rights of our state and for the integrity of our elections. I remain committed to continuing the fight for citizenship verification. In the coming days, I will consider every option available to the state, including the possibility of legal action.”

Background:

As required by law and ordered by federal courts in October 2008, the eligibility of new applicants to register and vote is checked against the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) and Social Security Administration databases to ensure that individuals registering to vote report similar information. If information in these databases does not match information reported on the voter registration form, the applicant is asked to clarify the information. Additionally, if the applicant previously reported to DDS that he or she is not a U.S. citizen, that person is asked by a registrar to provide proof of citizenship.

Prior to the November 2008 General Election, Secretary Handel sent letters to 4,771 voter registration applicants whose records at DDS indicated they were not U.S. citizens, asking them to provide documentation of their citizenship. As of March 2009, 2,148 of these applicants still have chosen not to resolve the question about their U.S. citizenship.

In the November 2008 General Election, county election officials reported that 599 individuals cast a challenged ballot because the voter had previously indicated to DDS that he or she was not a United States citizen and had not resolved their status with county officials at the time of the election. Of those, 369 ballots were accepted because the voter provided documentation of their citizenship after the election; and 230 were rejected because the individual chose not to confirm his or her citizenship status.

On October 10, 2008, activist organizations including the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit to attempt to prevent Georgia from verifying the eligibility of applicants to register and vote in the November General Election, including whether those individuals were citizens of the United States.

On October 16, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Jack Camp denied the motion by MALDEF and ACLU; directed the State to continue the verification process; and acknowledged the State’s requirements to verify information under the Help America Vote Act. In his order, Judge Camp stated:

HAVA requires that Defendant Handel match information in the statewide voter registration database with information from the Georgia DDS and the SSA databases “to the extent necessary to enable each such official to verify the accuracy of the information provided on the applications for voter registration.”

Judge Camp also stated:

Since the possibility of fraudulent and inaccurate voting could significantly injure and diminish the public’s respect and confidence in the electoral process, the State’s ability to maintain reliable voter lists is paramount to a temporary and minor inconvenience to a few individuals.

On October 27, 2008, a U.S. District Court three-judge panel again directed the State to continue its voter registration verification process and challenge ballot procedures through the November General Election.

***

No illegal alien voter left behind: It’s all part of the plan.

I had also previously reported on how South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was suing his State’s Attorney General over his right to not have to sign into law State legislation requiring him to accept all stimulus funds on behalf of the State. The AikenStandard.com reports that the Governor is not likely to take an appeal beyond the State Supreme Court:

A federal judge dealt a major blow Monday to Gov. Mark Sanford’s months-long fight to stop South Carolina from taking $700 million in federal stimulus money, and the governor said the battle may be nearing an end.

“It looks like we will be bound to spend that money,” Sanford told reporters. “I would say that would be a very plausible outcome given the foreshadowing that’s been done today.” …

The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday in lawsuits filed by two students and the South Carolina Association of School Administrators that seek to force Sanford to take the cash. U.S. District Judge Joseph Anderson on Monday rejected Sanford’s efforts to get those suits into federal court. …

Sanford said he’ll go along with whatever the state court decides. He had sued state Attorney General Henry McMaster in federal court after the legislature overrode his veto of a budget that required him to accept the $700 million over two years. The judge made no decisions on that case, but Sanford said he’ll drop it if he loses the state Supreme Court fight.

“We’re not going to carry on with a whole series of legal appeals,” he said. …

Sanford has refused to request the $700 million he controls unless it’s used to offset state debt. The White House twice rejected that approach.

Sanford thinks the federal stimulus law will devalue the dollar and saddle generations with debt. Judge Anderson was no fan of it either, saying it was poorly written. But he noted it was clear Congress intended to allow legislators to get around governors who didn’t want the money [something that could be construed as being very unconstitutional], citing the role that U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., played in amending it. …

Sanford noted the outcome likely weakens the powers of a governor’s office that’s already one of the weakest in the nation. Sanford’s limited role involves a Cabinet, appointments to boards, vetoes and whatever he can do with bully pulpit of the office.

He could have requested the money and avoided a court decision that could mean reduced powers. But he said one of his advisers dismissed the idea, saying “if you’re already naked, you’re naked. Just call an ace an ace and don’t try to pretend something is there that isn’t there.”

-Phil

Photoshop credit: Leo Alberti