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Shades of Florida: U.S. Supreme Court Votes Republican Again - Legalizes Further Impediments to Voting by the Poor

towashington 089.gif By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

The U.S. Supreme Court in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board yesterday validated the Indiana requirement that voters display “photo I.D’s” before they can exercise their right to vote. Those without such ID’s (primarily the old and poor) would have to buy one to vote – violating a prior Court’s ruling against the imposition of “poll taxes”.

This Court chose to ignore that line of precedents, relying instead on the interest a state might have in protecting the “integrity” of the voting process.

Even if that “integrity” has not been threatened.

A U.S. Commission that studied polling place vote fraud uncovered 24 cases - in the entire country – over a four year span.

Here in California, a report issued by Bill Jones “Vote Fraud” unit in the Secretary of State’s office identified fewer than a dozen instances in the decade prior to the Commission’s study. All of those instances involved small towns with tiny electorates where a couple of votes could affect outcomes.

None of them involved “immigrants” or “illegal immigrants” voting or attempting to vote.

Now “fraud” does run rampant in the collection of signatures on initiative petitions and registration affidavits - most of whom are paid on a ‘per signature’ basis, which provides a monetary incentive to cheat. The Democrats made their signature gatherers hourly employees, which fixed the problem. Republicans, however, object to paying minimum wage and worker’s compensation – so their petition people remain “independent contractors”, and the legal problems remain.

But these fraudulent registrations have not – ever – voted. Registration fraud involves stealing money from the party paying, it has not extended into fraudulent voting.

Under Jones, a group of “fraud investigators” was hired as a “unit” to police vote fraud. Illegally formed, by the way: there is no statutory authorization or budget appropriation for this “unit”. It was another effort to use intimidation to halt that which the G.O.P. fears the most: an increase in voting by poor people of color. The unit failed to uncover polling place fraud.

Have we forgotten the placement of “polling place guards” by the Republicans in Orange County, ostensibly designed to thwart fraudulent voting by ‘illegal immigrants’, but alleged to be an effort to intimidate people of color from exercising their rights (a large settlement was made by the GOP in a Civil Suit). Or a letter designed to scare new Vietnamese Citizens that appeared (also in Orange County) only two years ago?

A new study reveals that 29% of the electorate in California will have at least one immigrant parent. The clock is ticking for shortsighted Republicans. Maybe they should resurrect some of the customs of the 1880’s ‘old South’? A law that requires all voters prove that their parents (grandparents) were citizens? This Court might even approve that as a legitimate effort to maintain the “integrity” of the voting process.

Bill Cavala was Deputy Director of the Assembly Speaker’s Office of Member Services where he worked for over 30 years.

He attended undergraduate and graduate school in the 1960’s and received a doctorate in political science at UC Berkeley. He taught political science at UC Berkeley during the 1970's while he worked part-time for the State Assembly.

Cavala left teaching at UC Berkeley and went to work for Assembly Speaker Willie Brown in 1981 until his tenure as Speaker ended in 1995, and he has worked for his five successors as Speaker up to and including Speaker Fabian Nunez.

Mr. Cavala manages election campaigns for Democratic candidates.

Posted on April 29, 2008

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