Yesterday the Alabama Democratic Party filed a "motion to intervene" to keep Alabama Republicans and the Bush Justice Department from transferring the responsibility of election administration from an elected Democratic Secretary of State to the Republican governor embroiled in a hotly contested re-election race 100 days before the general election.
This Republican power grab for control of Alabama elections must be fought for the integrity of the voting process to be maintained.
Here is the
original AP article that details the GOP power grab ...
And this is yesterday's press release with the Alabama Democratic Party fighting back against the GOP's power play...
Montgomery -- The Alabama Democratic Party has filed an intervention in United States District Court today to prevent Gov. Bob Riley from assuming voter registration duties of the democratically elected Secretary of State Nancy Worley.
Republican Attorney General Troy King has once again placed politics over principle and partisanship over professionalism and is using his constitutionally empowered office to launch a Republican power grab. King, along with the Bush Justice Department, has singled out Alabama because our Secretary of State is an elected Democrat. In addition to Alabama nineteen states have faced similar obstacles in fully implementing the Help America Vote Act with additional states such as Illinois, New York, and California publicly indicating that they will not be compliant by the first federal election. Yet it appears the Justice Department has only targeted states where Democrats administer elections.
"What Republicans can't do at the ballot box, they are trying to do through the courts," said Alabama Democratic Party Chair Joe Turnham.
As an Alabama Democrat elected statewide, Republicans have targeted her for defeat. Yet Worley received more votes than any other candidate, Democrat or Republican including Bob Riley, in the June 6 primary. Republicans realize they must further attack and besmirch Worley in order for their preferred candidate Beth Chapman to have a chance in November.
Chapman's own record in regard to election administration is highly suspect, as she has publicly spoken out against reauthorization of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This extreme position puts her in direct conflict with Alabama's two Republican senators and President George W. Bush. Furthermore, at a July 15th meeting of the Alabama Republican Executive Committee unanimously urged the U.S. Congress to refuse to authorize the original version of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Turnham further objected to the appointment of Bob Riley as a "special master" due to his obvious political self-interest in the 2006 elections and his total lack of experience in administering elections. "The full resources of the Governor's office and the Secretary of State's Office should be available to any special master the judge approves ," said Turnham. "But it is entirely inappropriate for Bob Riley to assume that responsibility in middle of a nip-and-tuck race against Lieutenant Governor Lucy Baxley."
"The integrity of our election administration is at stake and Alabama voters need to have full confidence that elections are run by individuals with expertise and without a personal, partisan agenda," concluded Turnham.
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The Alabama Democratic Party is fighting for honest and open elections. Our intervention and statements generated television and print congerage, but it will take much more to keep the Republicans and Bush administration from trampling the Alabama Constitution and thwarting our democratic governance.
Visit our party website and consider making a donation to help us beat back the Republican power grab for control of Alabama elections!