A couple of weeks ago I wrote a journal entry (since deleted) about the City of Philadelphia being sued by the DOJ. This is due to the City refusing to comply with all aspects of the Help America Vote Act. The HAVA sounds innocent enough and claims to assist voters whose first language is not English. This sounds more-or-less fine, but there is some serious voter intimidation at hand here.
During Jackson's presidency, the political machine would actually follow voters (Irish immigrants) into the booths at gunpoint and instruct them who to vote for! We aren't there yet, but are headed that way. Check out the article below. . .
The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article out today about the possible effects of this act.
http://www.philly.com/...
One of the most curious things are the federal observors who would be present at the voting areas. This is curious because the City of Philadelphia provides translators by telephone to anyone who needs assistance. So why do we need federal observors at the voting places? And why is the DOJ insisting upon this act, to the point of filing a lawsuit against Philadelphia?
One possibility is the following:
In the case of the federal lawsuit, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the Democratic Party chairman, and other local Democrats see partisan politics at work. He said the suit was filed so close to Nov. 7 "probably to suppress the [Democratic] vote" and help GOP candidates such as U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
Well, this could be part of it, but I found it curious that both local Dems and GOPers claim to agree that federal intervention goes to far. It is somewhat predictable and annoying, but when you start looking at how this will actually work, it becomes alarming.
Since 1974, the city has provided translators at polling places where census data indicates Hispanics live. . . "This is one of those issues where the remedy far exceeds any potential need," city Solicitor Romulo Diaz said, adding that in the Nov. 7 election, the city also will provide translations via telephone in 200 languages, including Spanish. Stressing that federal observers could use their authority to enter polling booths while people are voting, Diaz said: "We think that is not only something that could be misunderstood - it could even have a chilling effect and intimidate the very voters the Justice Department says it is trying to support."
This gives me chills. . . following people into voting booths?!! There is such horrible potential for abuse at hand! Thank goodness the City of Philadelphia is standing up to the DOJ. What do you think? Any ideas regarding this situation?