U.S. Department of Justice is Wrong on Policy and Wrong in Court
by Judy Kent
Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Justice is wrong on policy, wrong on the law, and now proven wrong in Court, says the National Center for Public Policy Research.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle today 1) rejected a Department of Justice request to issue a temporary restraining order blocking Florida from removing non-citizens from the voter rolls; 2) rejected the DOJ's argument that the National Voter Registration Act prohibits removal of non-citizens from the voter rolls; and 3) said that permitting known non-citizens to vote would result in "irreparable harm" to eligible voters.
"Once again the DOJ lost in court over a legal claim that they knew or should have known was invalid. Today a federal court ruled that the DOJ was wrong to claim that the National Voter Registration Act prevented the State of Florida from removing ineligible voters from the voter rolls," said National Center Adjunct Fellow Horace Cooper. "As I explained June 7, the Justice Department should never have threatened Florida with legal action. But since they refused to withdraw their unjustified legal efforts to stymie Florida's legitimate steps to prevent voter fraud, the Federal Courts had no option but to overrule DOJ."
"The Court rightly ruled today that it would cause "irreparable harm" to bona fide voters if fraudulent voters were allowed to stay on the voter rolls. The law consistently sides with protecting legal voters over fraudulent voters, yet Holder's DOJ refuses to accept this result," Cooper adds.
"Florida's election roll maintenance program is not only legal, it has built-in safeguards to protect any lawful citizens rights to vote," Cooper argues. "All of this unnecessary litigation could have been prevented if the Obama Administration had allowed Florida to access the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to ensure the accuracy of the state's registration rolls," Cooper said.
Today's failed action is yet another example of the 'imperious presidency' pushing White House power past the stretching point and doing so solely for its political ambitions rather than support for the rule of law," Cooper explains.
"Instead of helping to end voter fraud, the Eric Holder and the White House have delayed access to the DHS database for almost a year. Stop stonewalling and enforce the law," Cooper concluded.
The National Center on June 7 wrote that the state of Florida is right to fight the U.S. Department of Justice on this matter, as the DOJ is wrongly attempting to re-write federal law in an effort to block enforcement of laws designed to deter voting fraud.
Horace Cooper is an adjunct fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a member of the African-American leadership group Project 21, and a legal commentator. He taught constitutional law at George Mason University in Virginia and was a senior counsel to U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey. He is a frequent radio and television guest and guest-host, most recently guest-hosting the nationally-syndicated G. Gordon Liddy Show on June 22.