NAACP meet goes wild for Eric Holder Politico -- In a rousing speech at the NAACP convention in Houston, Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday strongly defended his efforts to block controversial voter ID laws in some states - including Texas - saying the Justice Department “will not allow political pretexts to disenfranchise American citizens of their most precious right.”
“The arc of American history has always moved toward expanding the electorate. It is what has made this nation exceptional. We will simply not allow this era to be the beginning of the reversal of that historic progress,” Holder told the assembled delegates.
Holder further suggested that the Texas voter ID laws were passed for political reasons rather than a genuine desire to prevent voting fraud.
“In our efforts to protect voting rights and to prevent voting fraud, we will be vigilant and strong. But let me be clear, let me be very, very clear: we will not allow political pretexts to disenfranchise American citizens of their most precious right,” the attorney general said to uproarious applause.
It was an appropriate venue: Monday was the first day of trial in a case that Texas has filed against the Justice Department over approval of its voter ID law, and the NAACP convention was set in Houston.
Holder, who said he brought greetings from the First Family and members of the president’s cabinet, also outlined other successes that the Justice Department has achieved, including its work in combating hate crimes - over the past three years the DOJ has prosecuted 35 percent more hate crimes than the three years prior - and the aggressive use of the Civil Right’s Division authority.
“Over the past three years, the Civil Rights Division has filed more criminal civil rights cases than ever before, including record numbers of police misconduct, hate crimes, and human trafficking cases,” Holder noted.
Holder, the first African American attorney general of the United States, was received extraordinarily well by the delegates at the NAACP. After he finished his prepared remarks, the NAACP delegates assembled in Houston passed an “emergency resolution” that resolved the organization and its members to “strongly support” the attorney general’s efforts, especially with regards to voting rights.
The resolution also called Holder one of the best attorneys general ever.
Blog author's comments -
It should really be quite simple. If you are a legal citizen and registered to vote and have a photo ID you are eligible to vote. Those who do not have a photo ID can acquire one at no charge in most states. I would like Eric Holder and other Democrats along with the NAACP to produce a single eligible voter that has been disenfranchised by voter ID laws.
I would find it hard to believe that most people would not understand the Obama administration's problem with voter ID laws. The laws help to prevent voter fraud and to have fair and honest elections. A fair and honest election is not what the Democrats care about in November. Their only concern is to gain a second term for Obama. NAACP Requires Photo I.D. to See Holder in State Being Sued Over Voter IDEarlier today, Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the NAACP National Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. What did media need in order to attend? That's right, government issued photo identification (and a second form of identification too!), something both Holder and the NAACP stand firmly against when it comes to voting. Supreme Court Upholds Voter Identification Law in Indiana (2008)
