DOJ says it is monitoring Michigan GOP

House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. John Conyers

The U.S. Justice Department will “continue to monitor closely” reports that a Michigan Republican Party official planned to use home foreclosure lists to challenge voters’ eligibility on Election Day.

“If those allegations were true, it would be a concern to us in the Civil Rights Division,” Grace Chung Becker, the acting assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, told lawmakers at a joint hearing of the House Judiciary and Administration Committees on Wednesday.

Becker also informed lawmakers that criminal prosecutors from the Justice Department would not monitor polling stations.

The renewed attention on voter suppression was prompted by a story reported in Michigan Messenger earlier this month. Having failed to win the last two presidential elections, there is growing concern among Democratic officials that Republicans are engaged in efforts to suppress voter turnout. Republicans used the hearing to argue that fraud is a bigger problem.

While lawmakers debated whether suppression or fraud was a bigger problem, election officials from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, testified that they faced more pressing and practical problems on Election Day, including the right number of paper ballots, voting machines, and security issues.

“We’re going to be hit with a tsunami,” said Doug Lewis, the director of the National Association of Election Officials. “We may be overrun in this election.”

While these officials did not dismiss fraud as a problem — they described it as one that was manageable -– they emphasized the need for more resources to address shortcomings that led to the Florida recount in 2000 and the allegations of voter suppression, malfunctioning equipment and long lines in Ohio in 2004.

The hearing illustrated how local election procedures are fast becoming a national issue. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) complained to David Ferrell, the deputy assistant Secretary of State in Ohio, that Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner had decided to let voters who register apply for absentee ballots on the same day. The law requires a 30-day waiting period.

Her decision, Jordan said, could lead to “mischief and problems.”

(McCain’s campaign has sued to overturn the decision.)

The hearing made clear how the parties are maneuvering for advantage as polling place officials prepare for the more than 130 million voters expected to cast their ballots for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) or various third party candidates on Nov. 4.

Democrats charge that Republicans seek to suppress turnout from certain groups of voters and argue themselves for polling practices that will make it it easier to vote. Republicans complain that voter fraud –- whether it is people who falsely represent themselves registering or voting –- is the chief threat to the election’s integrity, even though there are relatively few cases of fraud.

Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) at Wednesday

The debate led to a moment of friction early in the hearing when Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the chair of the House Administration election subcommittee, demanded that Rep. Trent Frank (R-Ariz.) provide evidence that ACORN, a liberal community action group, had been involved in widespread voter fraud.
“I’m appalled that you would make a statement that you cannot back up,” Lofgren said.

Frank responded saying his information was based on media reports in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, a newspaper backed by conservative banker Richard M. Scaife, and John Fund, a conservative editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal.

“It’s a red herring,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said, referring to voter registration fraud. “The overwhelming problem is that legitimate voters are being denied the right to register and to vote.”

With Congress facing the prospect of voting on a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street banks and having to approve legislation necessary to keep the government running, the hearing was sparsely attended. By mid-afternoon, only House Judiciary John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Rep. Henry Gonzalez (D-Texas) remained.
Still, lawmakers seemed well aware of the rising stakes of another hard fought, closely contested election.

“The past two elections left a very bad taste in mouths of Americans,” California rep. Lofgren said. “If that happens again, if half of America thinks the election is not fair… Americans will feel that something funny was going on.“

Congressional Democrats have put renewed emphasis on voter suppression issues in the few days before they recess for six weeks. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced legislation preventing political parties from using lists of foreclosed homes to challenge one’s eligibility to vote, and the House Administration elections subcommittee will hold a hearing on Thursday on the suppression of student voters.

Jonathan E. Kaplan is Washington correspondent for the Center for Independent Media’s network of online news sites.