April 15, 2005

U.S. AG disagrees with AZ Gov. Napolitano on Voter I.D. at Polls

Secretary of State Jan Brewer today received official word from the U.S. Department of Justice that her efforts to implement Proposition 200 provisions requiring proper identification at the polls, does not violate federal law. This opinion directly contradicts Governor Napolitano's veto message on April 1st which incorrectly concluded that S.B. 1118 "conflicts with federal law."

The letter from Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sheldon T. Bradshaw of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, states: "it is our considered judgment that neither HAVA nor any other provision of federal law preempts states from imposing identification requirements at the polls, including identification requirements for the receipt of provisional ballots." The Civil Rights Division is specifically charged with enforcing and interpreting Title III of the Help America Vote Act, which includes the provisional ballot requirements.

Bradshaw's letter to Brewer also noted that, "if a State such as Arizona wishes to impose identification requirements that are stricter than HAVA, it may do so without violating the statute."

Stated Secretary of State Jan Brewer, "I told the Governor that this bill was not in violation of federal law, yet instead of working towards implementing the will of over 1 million voters, she chose to play legal games." "I was extremely disappointed that the Governor based her veto on her interpretation of HAVA and I'll remind her that the job of enforcing these laws lies directly with the U.S. Department of Justice, and they have spoken," added Brewer...

This was apparently from an email from the AZ Republican Party. Continued here.

Posted to Immigration2005a at April 15, 2005 06:17 PM

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