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    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    In Voter ID Fight, Hispanic Advocacy Groups At Forefront

    In Voter ID Fight, Hispanic Advocacy Groups At Forefront

    Posted: 09/11/2012 9:02 am


    With less than two months to go until Election Day, Hispanic advocacy groups are pressing their fight against voter ID and registration laws that they say aim at restricting minority voting.

    “We estimate that almost ten percent of Latino voters will be affected by this issue,” Hector Sanchez, chairman of the National Hispanic
    Leadership Agenda, told The Huffington Post. “At a time when you have elections that are so close in the swing states, that ten percent could decide the presidential election.”

    Friday, the League of United Latin American Citizens asked the Texas Supreme Court to block the state from using a newly drawn congressional map that LULAC contends discriminates against minorities. The legal challenge is part of a multifaceted, multi-organization effort to combat voter suppression.

    “There’s a three-pronged strategy,” Brent Wilkes, LULAC’s executive director, told The Huffington Post. “First, we try to defeat the bills and stop them from becoming law in the first place. ... We’ve had some success on that, but honestly a lot of the Republican-dominated legislatures have unfortunately gone ahead and passed ID fraud-type bills. So, the next step is the court cases. We’ve had a lot more success, I think, in the courts in terms of striking down a lot of these voter suppression bills.”

    Federal judges have blocked election laws that Hispanic groups oppose in Ohio, Texas and Florida. A Pennsylvania judge, however, ruled in favor of that state’s strict new voter ID law.

    Therefore, Wilkes said, the third part of the civil rights group’s strategy is to aggressively combat the impact of the laws. “Regardless of the fact that there are these bills on the books, we’re going to register voters,” he said. “We’re not going to let them scare us away from registering our community and we’re going to encourage them to turn out to vote and to bring whatever they have to bring to show they’re voters.”

    “We don’t like it,” he added, “but we’re going to make sure that we get our community to turn out and vote. We’re not going to let those obstacles be the reason you didn’t exercise your voice.”

    The laws the groups oppose include new voter photo ID laws and proof of citizenship requirements, as well as limits on early voting which negatively impact minorities.

    “When I have two or three jobs and these people are making it more difficult for me to vote on Sundays, or to do early voting,” Sanchez, chairman of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, said, “or when I can’t take time off to really participate in this because I need to feed my children -- those are a number of the issues that make it really hard for communities of color to be much more aggressive in participation.”
    Democrats contend Republicans are behind the rash of new voter registration and ID laws in a deliberate attempt to reduce the number of Latino and African-American voters, who tend to vote Democrat.
    In his speech Thursday at the Democratic National Convention, Georgia Rep. John Lewis, one of the original Freedom Riders, equated the current efforts to the days of Jim Crow.

    “I've seen this before,” he said. “I've lived this before. Too many people struggled, suffered and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote. And we have come too far together to ever turn back. So we must not be silent."

    Publicly, proponents of the laws -- including Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the architect of Arizona’s immigration crackdown law, SB 1070 -- insist they’re needed to combat voter fraud.

    However, Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai gave strength to the Democrats’ allegations in June, when he was caught on video adding the state’s ID law to a list of Republican accomplishments.
    “Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it’s done,” he said. “First pro-life legislation –- abortion facility regulations –- in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.”

    The former head of Florida’s Republican Party also said as much in a deposition in May and again on national television last month.
    “There’s no doubt that what the Republican led legislature in Florida and Governor Scott are trying to do is make sure the Republican party has an advantage in this upcoming election by reducing early voting and putting roadblocks up for potential voters, Latinos, African Americans to register and then to exercise their right to vote,” former state GOP chairman Jim Greer told the Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC. “There’s no doubt. I was in the room. It’s part of the strategy.”

    It’s a critical issue, especially in close elections.

    Speaking at a student town hall in Charlotte, N.C., during the Democratic National Convention, Kal Penn, actor and former associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, used the closeness of the 2008 presidential race in North Carolina as an example. Out of a total of more than 4.2 million votes cast, President Barack Obama won the state by fewer than 14,000 votes. The margin of victory in several counties was 300 votes or less. In two counties, Tyrrell and Hyde, the candidates finished 28 votes or less apart.

    Said Penn, “A single vote does matter."

    In Voter ID Fight, Hispanic Advocacy Groups At Forefront


    Fighting to get the illegals to the polls to steal votes from US citizens! They complain that they are portrayed as a pack of thieves, yet they just keep on stealing.

    Legal Hispanic voters NEED to get to the polls - illegal aliens should be jailed and then deported for even attempting to register to vote in our elections. JMO
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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    Senior Member Ratbstard's Avatar
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    Fighting to get the illegals to the polls to steal votes from US citizens! They complain that they are portrayed as a pack of thieves, yet they just keep on stealing.

    Legal Hispanic voters NEED to get to the polls - illegal aliens should be jailed and then deported for even attempting to register to vote in our elections. JMO
    Mine too.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    Equal Voice applauds court decision to throw out Voter ID law
    Last Updated:31 August 2012
    By Steve Taylor and Raul de la Cruz
    RGV Equal Voice Network members met in Weslaco earlier this month. (Photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)
    ALAMO, August 31 - The RGV Equal Voice Network and most border lawmakers have welcomed a federal court decision to strike down Texas’ new Voter ID law.

    A three-judge panel, one a Republican appointed judge, the other two Democrat appointed, ruled Thursday that the law, which requires voters to show a photo ID, was discriminatory against minorities and the poor. The court also said Texas had failed to prove that widespread voter fraud exists.

    Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, any changes to the elections process in Texas, including imposing a photo ID requirement on voters, must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice before it can be implemented. The DoJ opposed the Texas law and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sued.

    “We find that Texas has failed to make this showing—in fact, record evidence demonstrates that, if implemented, SB 14 will likely have a retrogressive effect,” the three-judge panel wrote in their opinion of the Voter ID law. “Given this, we have no need to consider whether Texas has satisfied Section 5’s purpose element. Accordingly we deny the state’s request for a declaratory judgment.”

    U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the DoJ’s efforts to uphold and enforce voting rights will remain aggressive and even-handed.

    “The court’s decision today and the decision earlier this week on the Texas redistricting plans not only reaffirm - but help protect - the vital role the Voting Rights Act plays in our society to ensure that every American has the right to vote and to have that vote counted,” Holder said.

    “The Department of Justice opposed preclearance of the Texas voter ID law because of the harm it would cause minority voters across the state of Texas. Under the proposed law, many of those without the required voter identification would be forced to travel great distances to get one – and some would have to pay for the documents they might need to do so. The legislature rejected reasonable efforts to mitigate these burdens. We are pleased with the court's decision to deny preclearance because of these racially discriminatory effects.”

    In a statement, the RGV Equal Voice Network said it was elated about two major federal court decisions this week. The other was a ruling by another federal court that the redistricting plans passed by the Texas legislature and adopted by Texas were discriminatory against minorities. The judges on this court comprised two Republican appointees and one Democratic appointee.

    Equal Voice represents a number of community groups that work in colonias across the Rio Grande Valley. The Network said the two decisions were “ratifications of the American ideal of democracy—a community who takes responsibility and participates in the forging of our shared future.”

    Ramona Casas is a community organizer for ARISE in Alamo. ARISE is part of Equal Voice. Casas said the Voted ID law would have placed “extraordinary burdens” on the poor, the elderly, and the Hispanic.
    “The courts’ actions affirmed what we have always promoted—the full participation of all citizens in the democratic process,” Casas said. “These rulings are victories for our communities in the Valley, for our sister communities in Texas, as well as for the entire nation.”

    Cristela Gomez, director of Mano a Mano in Brownsville, another community group in Equal Voice, said many people in the Valley are unlikely to possess any of the six forms of acceptable government-issued photo ID required under the Voter ID law. In order to obtain a photo ID to vote, citizens would have had to go to the Department of Public Safety, an agency many citizens prefer to stay away from.

    “The decision by the court reminds us that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and who made it the law of the nation that no one can have their right to vote diminished. We are grateful that our right to vote is a sacred right,” Gomez said.

    La Unión del Pueblo Entero is also part of Equal Voice. LUPE served as an organizational plaintiff in the lawsuit on voter ID, with its executive director, Juanita Valdez-Cox, offering testimony that she believes “clearly established the harm that the law would cause to low-income and elderly citizens of the Rio Grande Valley.”

    Daniel Diaz, an organizer with LUPE, said he saw the two federal court decisions as going far beyond the Valley and even the state of Texas. “In the past, it was the federal courts that saved minorities’ right to vote. These decisions this week mean that our government remains of the people, by the people and for the people,” Diaz said.

    Among the Hispanic lawmakers who welcomed the decision to strike down the Voter ID bill were state Sens. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, and state Rep. Eddie Lucio, III, D-San Benito.

    Lucio said SB 14, the legislation that led to the Voter ID law, specifically targeted the less fortunate, college students, the elderly, as well as minorities. He said the overturning of the legislation gives back Texans the ability to vote on the November General Election ballot without having to present a photo ID.
    “The United States is a democracy in which citizens are granted the privilege of voting. It is important that we defend our rights and exercise our freedom to vote without having any barriers,” Lucio said.

    "It is important to protect every American's right to vote. SB 14 is bad policy that will prohibit many around the state from partaking in the election process. It is not important to determine what party or what demographics the affected may belong to. If one voter is disenfranchised, it is wrong to implement such law.”

    Sen. Hinojosa said he was in no doubt the Voter ID law would disenfranchise certain segments of the voting-age population.

    “From the day this legislation was filed we voiced as loudly as we could that Voter ID legislation is designed to stop minorities and the indigent population from exercising their constitutional right to vote,” Hinojosa said.

    “This decision by the federal court shows that SB 14's intent was to restrict the voting power of the rapidly growing minority Hispanic population in Texas.”

    Sen. Rodriguez said the federal court’s decision to block Texas' voter ID law will ensure that the voices of Hispanic voters across El Paso, West Texas, and our state, “will not be ignored as a result of highly partisan attempts to deny them the right to vote.” He said the court ruling is “a clear message that the state ought to stop trying to pass unconstitutional laws that infringe on the rights of Texas minorities, especially the millions of Hispanics in our state.”

    Rodriguez added: “This has gone on for too long already. With the court's rejection this week of the state's redistricting proposals, it is clear that continued assaults on our cherished right to vote are unconstitutional and a distraction from the vital governance issues we face.

    "I urge General Abbott not to spend taxpayer dollars on a lengthy and expensive appeals process in defense of a law targeting minority and elderly voters. Let us move forward and focus on the real problems facing our state -- underfunded public schools, the highest rate of uninsured in the nation, and a crumbling infrastructure system.”

    Also opposed to the Voter ID law were the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, the Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy, and the League of Women Voters.
    Attorney General Abbott said he will appeal the Voter ID law ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. He is doing the same with the redistricting ruling.

    “The Supreme Court of the United States has already upheld Voter ID laws as a constitutional method of ensuring integrity at the ballot box. Today's decision is wrong on the law and improperly prevents Texas from implementing the same type of ballot integrity safeguards that are employed by Georgia and Indiana - and were upheld by the Supreme Court. The State will appeal this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, where we are confident we will prevail,” Abbott said.

    Gov. Rick Perry said the court ruling on the Voter ID law was a victory for fraud.

    “Chalk up another victory for fraud. Today, federal judges subverted the will of the people of Texas and undermined our effort to ensure fair and accurate elections. The Obama Administration’s claim that it’s a burden to present a photo ID to vote simply defies common sense. I will continue to work with Attorney General Abbott to fight for the same right that other states already have to protect their elections,” Perry said.

    U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former Texas Attorney General. He said of the court ruling on the Voter ID law: “Though I’m disappointed in today’s decision, the Supreme Court will have the final say as Texas fights to preserve the integrity of the voting process with a commonsense, constitutional law vital to the health of our democracy.”
    Politics SPECIAL EDITION on RioGrandeGuardian.com


    This group was formed by the ACLU.

    Local non-profit network helping to launch border law enforcement abuse documentation project

    The RGV Equal Voice Network, a coalition of 10 community-based organizations in the region, has teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union for the effort since May, Astrid Dominguez, border rights fellow with the RGV Equal Voice Network said.

    The project was created by the ACLU in New Mexico and has extended to California, Arizona and a portion of Texas – El Paso.
    Read article at:

    http://www.alipac.us/f12/local-non-p...tation-264348/
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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