Because when everyone hates you and your policies, the only thing you can do is keep them from voting you out of office:
For the last six years, the Justice Department has sided with the citizens and civil rights groups fighting Texas’ voter ID law, which a federal judge at one point found to be intentionally discriminatory against black and Latino voters. But its position changed Monday when the department decided to drop its claim that Republican state lawmakers enacted the law to make it harder for minorities to vote.
“This signals to voters that they will not be protected under this administration,” said Danielle Lang, the deputy director of voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center, which is challenging Texas’ law in court.
The reversal, on the eve of a key hearing in the case, is a clear sign of the DOJ’s direction under Attorney General Jeff Sessions—a longtime advocate of voter ID laws and other voting restrictions. The department signaled its intentions last week when it joined with the state of Texas to ask the court to hold off on judging the constitutionality of the law until Republican lawmakers can modify it. The court rejected this request.
Lang told TPM that the DOJ reached out Monday morning to her and the other voting rights groups fighting the law to notify them of their new position.
On Tuesday, DOJ lawyers will appear before U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos and inform her that the federal government is dismissing its claim that the voter ID law was crafted with a discriminatory intent.
“There have been six years of litigation and no change in the facts,” Lang told TPM. “We have already had a nine-day trial and presented thousands of pages of documents demonstrating that the picking and choosing of what IDs count was entirely discriminatory and would fall more harshly on minority voters. So for the DOJ to come in and drop those claims just because of a change of administration is outrageous.”
Kinda white happens when you have a white supremacist running the DOJ.
Jerzy Russian
That is one sure-fire way to tell who is a Republican and who is a Democrat. The former wants to restrict voting, and the latter want to expand voting.
schrodingers_cat
Neo Confederacy has won the election, what else did you expect.
Jerzy Russian
I forgot to add the usual “Christ, what an asshole” to my comment above. I am not on top of my game today.
Patricia Kayden
This surprises absolutely no one. Sessions is probably planning to work hard with Congress to gut whatever is left of the Voting Rights Act. Sigh.
I would argue that Democrats could shame Sessions into backtracking but then remembered that he and his ilk have no shame.
Baud
First order of business for Perez — get everyone IDs.
Dmbeaster
The take away point is that Sessions is in favor of laws that intentionally seek to limit minority voting.
Which is pretty much the definition of racism.
Chris
@Patricia Kayden:
It’s easily the single biggest concern I had when the election was called for Trump and ever since. They are going to go balls-to-the-wall on vote suppression and do everything they make it as close to impossible as they can for any voters other than their own to hold them accountable.
Major Major Major Major
@Jerzy Russian:
If you knew nothing about the views of the two parties but this, you could fill in the blanks pretty well.
Emerald
Well of course. That’s why they put Jeff Sessions in as the AG. His major job is going to be voter suppression nationwide and he will do it gleefully.
I mean, I love and adore all the wonderful town hall protests and the marches and the Indivisible strategy, but the Rs aren’t going to have to worry about any of that if our people just flat out are not allowed to vote. Our Blue Wall and the coming demographic wave? So what?
The already present voter suppression in the three states that gave him the EC win overwhelmed the shitgibbon’s margin of victory in each of them. And be sure they will institute it on a federal level if they can get two SCOTUS picks onto the court. They’ll be going into overdrive with it ASAP.
The Rethugs are absurdly incompetent in everything except stealing elections. They’ve got that down.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
It used to be we just had to get voters to the polls. Then it was get voters registered, then get them to the polls. Now it’s get voters registered, get them IDs, then get them to the polls. Before IDs, we were lucky if we achieved passing grades in registration/get-to-polls, now we’ve got one more task.
Needs to be done. When we vote, we win. The problem is getting “us” to vote.
Kay
What about getting a commitment from Dem campaigns to allocate X percentage of campaign funds to hiring private sector people to protect voting rights – do the job Sessions refuses to do?
I realize that we’re all citizens so are already paying Sessions but we have to be realistic about this- he has no intention of doing this job. Therefore. Someone has to do it. We have to pay for work.
Say 10% of every Dem campaign fundraising total goes to a voting rights protection fund- people on the ground, voter education, lawyers, lawsuits. Get serious. Hire a goddamned army.
Rank and file Democrats donate plenty to these campaigns. Where does it go? If Sherrod Brown raises 10 million for his next Senate race 1 million goes to voting rights protection in Ohio. 10% of any campaign funds raised all the way down to Dem city council races. By consent. An agreement in the Democratic Party.
Is this a priority for us? Okay. Fund it. Use campaign money. No one will miss fewer tv ads and consultants.
Emerald
@Baud:
And I think that’s why Obama wanted Perez–he worked on voter suppression when he was in the Justice Dept. He’s got the most experience with it of anyone out there.
tobie
This is likely a naive question but I’ll ask it anyway: does anyone else have standing to pursue this case? Can some voting rights organization take it up even if the Justice Department does not go along with it?
Major Major Major Major
OT: Today I learned that an animated movie about the WWI dog Sgt. Stubby comes out next year, starring Gérard Depardieu and Helena Bonham Carter.
J R in WV
No one more despicable than a Republican racist politician, which would be 99% of them, and one guy who is actually completely and totally blind and rich.
All that proof that the DoJ dug up, that doesn’t mean a thing to Jefferson Beauregard Sessions Bigot III. Well, actually it does mean something, it means he has to work his ass off to keep those racist laws on the books.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: Jason Kander has founded an organization to protect voting rights, I hope/assume that will be on their list. So far they’re just asking for money. Let America Vote dot org.
Kay
@Baud:
We need money to do it. That money should come from campaign funds. People can’t rely on this patched-together group of non-profits. We have to replicate state protection of voting rights with private funds. We already have funds. Campaigns are awash with money. Redirect some.
Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire)
Well done, people of color who voted for Dolt 45. You just voted in your last election. Mamónes.
Taylor
@Kay:
The consultants will miss them.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Wasn’t Obama going to focus some of his post-presidential activities on voting rights?
efgoldman
@Jerzy Russian:
It’s implied every time the Evil Alabama Leprechaun is mentioned. Ptui.
Fuckem
Brachiator
@Jerzy Russian:
But, but … “Trump, Clinton, no difference.” That’s what the purity pony riders insisted.
Kay
@Taylor: @Taylor:
Let’s look at this, though. Just because campaigns have always paid X to Y doesn’t mean we have to keep doing it.
These are huge amounts of money. Imagine if they were put to some productive use. Voting rights protection involves voter contact, It’s a two-fer. We can do this well. A good ,thorough job instead of depending on an over-burdened ACLU and NAACP and League of Women Voters. . What’s the downside? It’s the right thing to do and it will likely be politically beneficial too. It’s a great investment.
schrodingers_cat
@Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire): Majority of white women voted for the pu$$y grabber not to speak of white men. And you blame minorities. Well done.
Demographic breakup of the 2016 election
Mart
@Chris: FYI – I have seen balls to the walls. In the old days steel balls on hinges were placed on rotating equipment for speed regulation. As the equipment began to spin, the balls would rise towards the walls, with centrifugal force acting to limit the speed of the rotation. This was used to protect equipment from over-speed damage.
Major Major Major Major
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t think ‘blame’ is really what she was going for.
Irony Abounds
ANYONE who voted for Trump, regardless of race, creed, gender, age, whatever, is a stupid gullible fool and deserves blame for President Orange Clusterfuck.
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
A little more complicated. From a CNN Exit poll analysis.
And from the PEW study, this is one of the most stark contrasts:
But I agree with you that blaming people of color for Trump’s victory is weird and wrong.
cain
@Baud:
But that has some interesting nuances right if you recall the discussion we had some time back about how hard it is for some people to get ids. That would really require interfacing with local politicians and making that happen.
elm
@Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire): People of color voted against him overwhelmingly. White people put 45 in office. It’s stupid to focus-in on non-white groups when non-white people voted 74% for Clinton vs 21% for Trump and Clinton had a 30 point lead over Trump in the least favorable non-white group (Other at 61% Clinton/31% Trump).
@Brachiator:
Not actually much more complicated. White women (when you stop filtering by only college-educated white women or one age group) voted for Trump.
Major Major Major Major
@Brachiator: While the strong Trumpward shift in white voters without a college degree, regardless of income, is indeed the story that’s missing in a lot of the analyses, it’s still true that most white women (as a group) voted for Trump.
Steve in the ATL
Man, if there are two things I hate, it’s lawyers and white people. What is wrong with us?
waysel
@schrodingers_cat: If balloon juice history can be believed, Adria is Latino, as is her husband. “Last night I was reading Adam’s post about the JPL engineer’s phone to my husband, and told him that his “third party” vote here in Ohio meant that he voted for this kind of shit, and he tried to tell me that he voted “against Trump.” No, no you didn’t, hun. If you didn’t vote for the one person who could defeat Trump, you voted FOR him.
I will be reminding him of his bullshit until my dying day, or when we are rounded up with all the other Latinxs in this country. Or maybe until he gets deported to Mexico by the ICE folks because no one in their right minds carries their birth certificate around with them, and a drivers license is easier for a shady ICE agent to destroy.” From Feb 13, Grifter in Chief.
mai naem mobile
But there’s no difference between Clinton and Lumpy.
Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire)
@schrodingers_cat: uh, yeah, I am specifically speaking to minorities who voted for this idiot. They, like poor whites, voted against their own interests. I’m well aware that there are plenty of white women, too. Anything else?
Brachiator
@elm:
You’re right. If you don’t consider the detail, then this statement is simply a lie.
waysel
Mamones: n Mexican slang, it means something like “insolent little douchebag”, “absurd fuckhead”, or “deliberately, and often arrogantly, uncooperative”. 3rd part is most applicable, on a guess. Kinda like wilmerites.
Taylor
@Kay: We are not in disagreement. I have the distinct impression that part of the Dems’ problems is a consultocracy at the top levels that has a stranglehold on their spending. Schrum was the poster child for this. Lots of spending on useless TV ads, with these consultants getting their share of the cut.
It’s a very top-down organization, with DC careerists in the driver’s seat. I applaud all of your ideas for cheaper and probably more effective bottom-up approaches. But anyone that wants to implement those ideas has to fight that entrenched consultocracy. Perez sounds like a great guy, but will he even want to do this?
Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire)
@elm: Again, people are reading into what I wrote. I specifically addressed my comment to people of color who voted against their best interests by voting for a guy who has come after Mexicans, black folks, Muslims, etc. They are gonna regret their vote, much like the white women who suddenly realize their bodily autonomy is threatened.
I am not speaking to the women or people of color who voted against him. They saw this for what it was/is.
And yes, I am a Latina.
waysel
@Kay: I love this idea, Kay. Send Perez an e-mail.
Major Major Major Major
@Brachiator: What’s the lie? Clinton lost white women.
Taylor
@Taylor: Just as a f’instance, both my wife and MIL have become much more politically active than they were before, but this weekend they were complaining about all the harassment they’re getting from DNC for funds. It’s hard to feel loyalty to an organization that treats you like a glorified ATM. This is not how smart charities do it.
cain
@Emerald:
That’s where we can get them because that will definitely drive independents. If they create enough pain points voter suppression won’t matter. Once that happens, we can start dismantling everything they did, just like they did to us. This time though, we’ll make sure that everyone has access to vote and is never lost.
Jeffery Bahr
Perez says he wants to make battling voter suppression a top priority at the local, state and Federal level. I just want to know where to send money.
Brachiator
@Major Major Major Major:
Did most white women in California vote for Trump? I don’t think so.
You could also say that most white people voted for Trump. Why make a gender distinction?
What conclusion are you trying to draw by noting that in aggregate white women voted for Clinton?
Also, the aggregate numbers are not much different than the vote for Obama. Now what?
Major Major Major Major
@Brachiator: I would recommend directing those questions at the person who made the statement in the first place.
cain
@Taylor:
This. And those guys are all ‘third way’ assholes from the Clinton era.
cain
@Taylor:
Worse the messaging is always has some underlying ‘fear based’ messaging. I’m really opposed to this. My parents also are sick of all the fundraising emails. Not only from them, but other organizations as well.
elm
@Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire): Thanks for the clarification, and sorry I didn’t know better.
In-group criticism is way different than out-of-group criticism.
In the past, I’ve seen too many white folks criticizing people of color for their votes when those votes weren’t significant or decisive and when white people voted as badly or worse.
From my perspective, I’d sell my kidneys to have white people vote half as well as the least Democratic-leaning non-white groups, but I understand your point too.
Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire)
@Brachiator: I’m blaming people of color who voted for Dolt 45 against their best interests. I did not imply that they were the reason he won.
Adria McDowell (formerly LurkerExtraordinaire)
@elm: Not a problem. I know we are all frustrated here, and rightfully so. I certainly would not have said shit to people of color if I wasn’t one (or the daughter of one, or married to one, or the daughter in law of one, or or or…..).
Note I didn’t say anything about LGBTQ folks who voted for Dolt 45. I’m not a member of that demographic, so I don’t feel comfortable saying anything about their vote. My mom is white, and boy, did she get a mouthful from me for voting third party. Especially after I pointed out that if I needed an abortion to save my life, in the future it would be that much more difficult to do so. (Then again, she also voted for Voldemort twice, and is now paying the price since she has no health insurance, has been hospitalized three times in the last two years, and there was no Medicare expansion due to the crook who runs her state.
People need to stop voting against their best interests, especially if they aren’t billionaires.
Kay
@cain:
We need to think about the spend side of campaign finance. Not how or from whom it is raised but how it is spent.
Sherrod Brown raised and spent 10 million dollars in ’12. I’m only asking for 1 million of that to be redirected to something productive and important, like voting. You could literally hire and pay a voting rights army with what we’re spending and have tons left over for ads and anything else under the sun. 10 million dollars. That’s ONE Senate race.
J R in WV
@tobie:
The DoJ is just one more party in the case brought by many freedom/liberty/minority voter groups. They provided a lot of evidence and research, and now they’re trying to bail.
The judge should tell the DoJ it’s way too late to back out, they’re committed. And tell Jeff “Senior Bigot” Sessions that it will be a long stay in jail for contempt if he gives his trial team any static or lack of support. Hard to work on voter restriction from a jail cell~!!!
J R in WV
@cain:
Every time someone has trouble getting a birth certificate -> government ID file a law suit against the person who decided not to issue the needed documents. The individual, their supervisor, the head of that local office, and the state appointed or elected state-wide office-holder in charge of birth-certificates, IDs and voter registration.
Every time some gets their right to vote interfered with, lawsuit against that poll worker. We should start with the minor interim elections, put bigots on notice that their bull shit won’t fly in court, and will cost them several annual paychecks if they try it.
I don’t care if they hate us, as long as they fear our lawyers, and our superior morality. And our moral power!! Fuq those bigots, with a farm tool!
Mnemosyne
@Patricia Kayden:
This is one of the reasons I think we need to concentrate on flipping Republican seats in blue states to Democrats. Yes, we need to multi-task and try to flip state legislatures and governors as well, but red states are going to redouble their efforts to prevent Black people from voting, and the Trump administration is going to aid and abet them in doing that.
J R in WV
@Steve in the ATL:
Uhh, Steve, aren’t you a lawyer? And a white guy ?? ;-)
J R in WV
@Taylor:
Yeah, I’m a contributor to CANDIDATES – not the DCCC or the DSCC nor the DNR or the Democratic Governors Club…. even then, every day you get another email from Hillary or her minions, begging for money even after I set up a monthly contribution to her. There wasn’t any more, except for the money I was investing in Senators and Congressmen to work with her!!!! FQ that shit!
Gerrrr! I still wish I could have done more, but no one ordinary retired guy can do 80,000 votes more.