Rep. Nadler Examines Voter Suppression, Seeks Subpoena for Key Witness

Press Release

Rep. Nadler Examines Voter Suppression, Seeks Subpoena for Key Witness

Kenneth Blackwell, Former Ohio Secretary of State, Refuses to Appear

Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties today held an oversight hearing on the efforts of the Department of Justice to combat voter suppression. Witnesses included government and legal experts. However, Kenneth Blackwell, the former Secretary of State of Ohio, declined Nadler's multiple requests to appear at the hearing. The panel also adopted a resolution to compel Mr. Blackwell's testimony.

"The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy - a right that must be protected and defended," said Rep. Nadler. "However, under the current Administration, the Department of Justice has a remarkably poor record of protecting that fundamental right. Laws that protect voters from discrimination on the basis of race, language or disability have not been properly enforced. Indeed, it would seem that political pressures have deterred the Justice Department from fulfilling its mandate."

At issue is whether the current enforcement actions of the Department of Justice are protecting voting rights or instead are promoting barriers. Rep. Nadler noted that there are growing concerns that the Department of Justice has devoted a large number of resources toward pursuing voter fraud cases, despite reports indicating that voter fraud is not a widespread problem.

With these limited resources focused on voter fraud, it seems that the Justice Department has failed to fully enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which is aimed at racial discrimination of voters, and Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act. Other overlooked and under investigated problems include the lack of voting machines in areas with large minority populations, voter intimidation and voter suppression. Also, the Justice Department manual, "the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses," has been revised to reflect the increased emphasis on voter fraud by the Bush Administration.

Rep. Nadler noted that Congress has been working on the issue. Last June, the House passed H.R. 1281, the Voter Intimidation and Deceptive Practices Prevention Act, which would address the problem of deceptive campaign communications and voter intimidation in federal elections. Also, last October, Rep. Nadler held an oversight hearing on the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

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