"As more information becomes available about the administration's priority on combating alleged, but not well substantiated, voter fraud, the more apparent it is that its actions concerning voter ID laws are part of a partisan strategy to suppress the votes of poor and minority citizens,"
That is a quote from the former chief of the Voting Rights Section at Justice. It's in an amazing McClatchy article called U. S. ATTORNEYS Campaign against alleged voter fraud fuels political tempest that each and every one of us should read and forward to everyone we know. It boils down the entire scandal into one easy to read article.
The administration, however, has repeatedly invoked allegations of widespread voter fraud to justify tougher voter ID measures and other steps to restrict access to the ballot, even though research suggests that voter fraud is rare.
Since President Bush's first attorney general, John Ashcroft, a former Republican senator from Missouri, launched a "Ballot Access and Voter Integrity Initiative" in 2001, Justice Department political appointees have exhorted U.S. attorneys to prosecute voter fraud cases, and the department's Civil Rights Division has sought to roll back policies to protect minority voting rights.
On virtually every significant decision affecting election balloting since 2001, the division's Voting Rights Section has come down on the side of Republicans, notably in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Washington and other states where recent elections have been decided by narrow margins.
There is so much in this article that will piss you off that I hesitate to direct you too it but this is the most important story leading into the 08 election there is. Even with our advantages the GOP could win simply by cheating while accusing us of cheating.
Please read the article, read Digby's take and then write everyone you know.