DOJ asks 18 states for proof of motor voter compliance
McClatchy Newspapers reports: The Justice Department s Civil Rights Division is reversing course and has begun taking steps to enforce a 1993 law that s intended to make it easier for poor minorities to register to vote.
The division, which has come under attack for allegedly pursuing policies aimed at suppressing the votes of Democratic-leaning minorities, has demanded that 18 states provide evidence that they re complying with the National Voter Registration Act.
If it is fully pursued, this new action will represent the first significant return to traditional enforcement of voting-rights laws since a scandal erupted earlier this year over the alleged politicization of the Justice Department. ...
The states receiving the letters include three that frequently are battlegrounds in presidential and Senate races — Iowa, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The others are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New York, South Carolina, Utah and Vermont. -- McClatchy Washington Bureau | 11/09/2007 | Justice Department returns to enforcing voter laws