Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has made a political career (he's now running for governor) out of the aggressive pursuit of the virtually non-existent "fraudulent voters."
Besides having the most stringent laws and restrictions in his own state, he was appointed to co-chair (with VP Mike Pence as figure-head co-chair) a White House commission on election integrity, a dog whistle, code word for "voter fraud." Kobach demanded extensive data from states' voter registration rosters, which led to suspicion and non-compliance by many states. What was to be done with the data? Was this the beginning of a national registry with sensitive data all in one place? Too risky, many thought.
So the commission languished and was eventually de-activated after a democratic member of the group complained that he received no communications for months from the commission and there were no meetings.
Not to worry that Kobach has abandoned (or escaped) this controversial issue. In a U. S. District Court last week, Kobach was being sued over a Kansas law that requires Kansas residents to prove they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote. The suit was brought by several residents who were not allowed to vote in the 2016 election; they are represented by the ACLU.
According to Sam Levine of HuffPost, who is reporting this, the scene in the courtroom pitted the ACLU's top voting rights lawyer, Dale Ho, against the notorious Hans von Spavovsky, who has long been a zealot in the pursuit of "voter fraud." He is serving as Kobach's expert witness.
A former member of the Justice Department and a Trump appointee to the Pence-Kobach Commission on Election Integrity, von Spavovsky might be thought of as the idealogue behind the politician Kobach in their fight to keep "illegals" off the voting rolls.
They, of course, use the language of "election integrity" and "non-citizens" and "voter fraud." But repeated studies have shown, not only that this is not a major problem anywhere, but that in fact it is practically non-existent. In some studies, the few cases that are found usually turn out to have been mistaken attempts by people who thought they were eligible -- or actually were eligible to vote in another location. Or the quoted studies lack scientific methodology.
Now, let's pick up Sam Levine's description of the ACLU's Ho with the witness von Spavovsky, who is testifying as an expert witness for Kobach in the case.
* * *
Besides having the most stringent laws and restrictions in his own state, he was appointed to co-chair (with VP Mike Pence as figure-head co-chair) a White House commission on election integrity, a dog whistle, code word for "voter fraud." Kobach demanded extensive data from states' voter registration rosters, which led to suspicion and non-compliance by many states. What was to be done with the data? Was this the beginning of a national registry with sensitive data all in one place? Too risky, many thought.
So the commission languished and was eventually de-activated after a democratic member of the group complained that he received no communications for months from the commission and there were no meetings.
Not to worry that Kobach has abandoned (or escaped) this controversial issue. In a U. S. District Court last week, Kobach was being sued over a Kansas law that requires Kansas residents to prove they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote. The suit was brought by several residents who were not allowed to vote in the 2016 election; they are represented by the ACLU.
According to Sam Levine of HuffPost, who is reporting this, the scene in the courtroom pitted the ACLU's top voting rights lawyer, Dale Ho, against the notorious Hans von Spavovsky, who has long been a zealot in the pursuit of "voter fraud." He is serving as Kobach's expert witness.
A former member of the Justice Department and a Trump appointee to the Pence-Kobach Commission on Election Integrity, von Spavovsky might be thought of as the idealogue behind the politician Kobach in their fight to keep "illegals" off the voting rolls.
They, of course, use the language of "election integrity" and "non-citizens" and "voter fraud." But repeated studies have shown, not only that this is not a major problem anywhere, but that in fact it is practically non-existent. In some studies, the few cases that are found usually turn out to have been mistaken attempts by people who thought they were eligible -- or actually were eligible to vote in another location. Or the quoted studies lack scientific methodology.
Now, let's pick up Sam Levine's description of the ACLU's Ho with the witness von Spavovsky, who is testifying as an expert witness for Kobach in the case.
* * *
"Von Spakovsky has said that voter fraud is a serious problem both in Kansas and nationally. Questioned by Kobach in court . . . he pointed to a handful of cases in Kansas and hundreds of allegations of noncitizens on the voter rolls that date back to the 1980s.
"But Ho noted that von Spakovsky had . . . voiced support for the idea that being born in the United States doesn't guarantee U.S. citizenship. Ho intended to show that von Spakovsky had formed an opinion about the Kansas law before he knew much about it and had written an expert report on unreliable information.
"Von Spakovsky admitted that he was not aware of a single election in which noncitizen votes determined the outcome. He also conceded that his research into voter fraud had not been subjected to the same kind of rigorous peer review that academic work would face.
"Ho noted that von Spakovsky's expert report in the case contained incomplete information that allowed him to inflate the likelihood of noncitizens getting on the rolls. . . . Von Spakovsky also admitted that his entire understanding of voter fraud in Kansas was based on a spreadsheet prepared by Kobach's office of about 30 noncitizens who attempted to get on the voter rolls in one county in the state over the course of 18 years. Pressed if he knew the circumstances behind any of the cases, such as if any of the reports were caused by an administrative error or confusion, von Spakovsky said he did not.
"Von Spakovsky's testimony is crucial to Kobach's defense of the Kansas law. Kobach, who was also on the voter fraud commission with von Spakovsky, has to show that noncitizens getting on the voter rolls is a substantial problem and that nothing short of asking people to provide proof of citizenship can prevent it. . . .
"[U.S. District Judge Julie] Robinson also questioned von Spakovsky's understanding of voter fraud. In his Friday testimony, von Spakovsky said that any ineligible voter who cast a ballot was committing voter fraud because they were diluting the vote of a legitimate citizen.
"[Judge] Robinson wanted to know if he believed it would also be voter fraud if thousands of legitimate voters were blocked from casting ballots because of a voting restriction (the ACLU estimates the Kansas law affected more than 35,000 people). Von Spekovsky said that he didn't consider it to be fraud because every voter had an opportunity to obtain the necessary documents to register.
"Pressed later by Ho, he was unable to name any voting restriction in the United States that he believed to be a burden to voters."
"But Ho noted that von Spakovsky had . . . voiced support for the idea that being born in the United States doesn't guarantee U.S. citizenship. Ho intended to show that von Spakovsky had formed an opinion about the Kansas law before he knew much about it and had written an expert report on unreliable information.
"Von Spakovsky admitted that he was not aware of a single election in which noncitizen votes determined the outcome. He also conceded that his research into voter fraud had not been subjected to the same kind of rigorous peer review that academic work would face.
"Ho noted that von Spakovsky's expert report in the case contained incomplete information that allowed him to inflate the likelihood of noncitizens getting on the rolls. . . . Von Spakovsky also admitted that his entire understanding of voter fraud in Kansas was based on a spreadsheet prepared by Kobach's office of about 30 noncitizens who attempted to get on the voter rolls in one county in the state over the course of 18 years. Pressed if he knew the circumstances behind any of the cases, such as if any of the reports were caused by an administrative error or confusion, von Spakovsky said he did not.
"Von Spakovsky's testimony is crucial to Kobach's defense of the Kansas law. Kobach, who was also on the voter fraud commission with von Spakovsky, has to show that noncitizens getting on the voter rolls is a substantial problem and that nothing short of asking people to provide proof of citizenship can prevent it. . . .
"[U.S. District Judge Julie] Robinson also questioned von Spakovsky's understanding of voter fraud. In his Friday testimony, von Spakovsky said that any ineligible voter who cast a ballot was committing voter fraud because they were diluting the vote of a legitimate citizen.
"[Judge] Robinson wanted to know if he believed it would also be voter fraud if thousands of legitimate voters were blocked from casting ballots because of a voting restriction (the ACLU estimates the Kansas law affected more than 35,000 people). Von Spekovsky said that he didn't consider it to be fraud because every voter had an opportunity to obtain the necessary documents to register.
"Pressed later by Ho, he was unable to name any voting restriction in the United States that he believed to be a burden to voters."
* * *
Hans von Spakovsky has been cast in the public eye as someone who has consistently acted to disenfranchise poor and minority voters, in the guise of protecting voter integrity. He worked at the Justice Department and later at the Federal Elections Commission in the George W. Bush Administration. His FEC nomination was opposed both by Justice Department lawyers who knew him, as well as by Democrats in the Senate, and his 2005 nomination was withdrawn -- only to have Bush then appoint him during the congressional recess in January 2006. His current position is with the Heritage Foundation as head of Election Law Reform initiative.
Von Spakovsky and Kobach are two leading public figures in the battle against protecting voting rights for those who tend to vote for liberal and progressive candidates, especially the poor, elderly, and socially marginalized groups. If they think that proving citizenship is no burden, consider just this one example:
An elderly black woman who was born at home in a time when black people's births were often not recorded in court records. She can't get a birth certificate because her birth was never officially recorded; but she was born here and has never lived anywhere else. She lives in a rural area, far from the county registrar's office, with no public transportation. She has never had a bank account, credit cards, or charge accounts; and her utilities are paid for by a relative with whom she lives. What proof of citizenship is she supposed to supply?
Ralph
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