Sunday, March 18, 2012

Obama and DOJ Holder Reject Texas Voter ID Law - Rick Perry and Greg Abbott Respond

the Department of Justice has denied preclearance the Voter ID law that was passed in the 2011 Legislative Session.

Below are the responses from Texas Governor Rick Perry and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.


Greg Abbott:

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued the following response regarding the DOJ denial of preclearance for Texas' Voter ID law:

"The Justice Department's decision to deny preclearance to Texas' Voter ID law is no surprise given the Obama Administration's denial of a similar law in South Carolina. In anticipation of this decision, the Texas Attorney General's office already filed legal action in January seeking judicial preclearance with the court system. The U.S. Supreme Court has already held that Voter ID requirements are constitutional and nondiscriminatory, and several other states--including Georgia, Indiana, Kansas and Wisconsin--are allowed to require photo
 identification to vote. Texas should not be treated differently and must have the same authority as other states to protect the integrity of our elections."

"Since 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice has prosecuted more than 100 defendants for election fraud. During the same period, election fraud investigations by the Texas Attorney General's Office have resulted in 50 convictions. Those cases include a woman who submitted her dead mother's ballot, a paid operative who cast two elderly voters' ballots after transporting them to the polling place, a city council member who unlawfully registered ineligible foreign nationals to vote in an election that was decided by a 19-vote margin, a Starr County defendant who voted twice on Election Day, a Harris County man who used his deceased father's voter registration card to vote in an election, an election worker who pled guilty after attempting to vote for another individual with the same last name, and a Hidalgo County man who presented another voter's registration card and illegally cast that voter's ballot on Election Day."


Rick Perry:

AUSTIN, Texas – “The DOJ has no valid reason for rejecting this important law, which requires nothing more extensive than the type of photo identification necessary to receive a library card or board an airplane. Their denial is yet another example of the Obama Administration’s continuing and pervasive federal overreach,” said Texas Gov. Rick Perry earlier today  following the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision not to preclear Texas’ voter identification law.  

“Texas has a responsibility to ensure elections are fair, beyond reproach and accurately reflect the will of voters.”

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