Republicans in DoJ still working to suppress votes

The major reason why the Pearl Harbor Day eight were fired was that many of them would not go along with the DoJ in attempting to bring spurious charges of voter fraud in efforts to cause large numbers of Democratic-leaning voters to avoid registering or voting their own interests.

Here is the latest, from the Charlotte Observer.

State, feds say rolls out of date, push changes; official says no need

DAVID INGRAM
dingram@charlotteobserver.com

RALEIGH --
State and federal officials are mounting two broad challenges to the way North Carolina maintains its voter rolls, charging widespread irregularities that include votes cast under the names of dead people.

The accusations attempt to call into question the accuracy of registration records and election returns from 2004 to the present.

So far, though, the officials have not made public any evidence of irregularities, and N.C. election officials argue that the state's maintenance of voter rolls is among the most careful and comprehensive programs in the country.

The dispute comes amid growing national attention to suspected voter fraud. The U.S. Justice Department has devoted more resources to that area -- a decision that voting advocates say could disproportionately affect minorities and the poor ahead of the 2008 election.

In a letter two months ago, the Justice Department said it was reviewing North Carolina's voter rolls and that it found irregularities in the number of people registered to vote. Similar reviews have led to lawsuits against election officials in seven other states, including Georgia.

The second broad challenge is from State Auditor Les Merritt, whose office began a review of the state's voter rolls in January.

His staff presented preliminary findings to the State Board of Elections last week. According to the board, Merritt's staff cited 24,821 invalid driver's license numbers in the voter registration database, 380 people who appear to have voted after their dates of death and others who were under age 18 when they voted.

Gary Bartlett, executive director of the elections board, responded Wednesday with a stinging 10-page letter declaring many of the findings invalid. He accused Merritt's office of misleading the elections board and of rejecting its help.

"(Y)our office appears to have a fundamental misunderstanding about the data that was reviewed or about the federal and State laws governing the voter registration process," Bartlett wrote in the letter, which he provided to lawmakers Thursday.

For example, Bartlett said, many of the people who appear to have voted after their dates of death voted absentee and then died prior to Election Day. At least some people under 18 who voted did so legally, Bartlett said, because state law allows 17-year-olds to vote in a primary election if they will be 18 the day of the general election.

Sort of like stove piping Intelligence data. All you have to do is cherry-pick the data that supports what you want everyone to believe while suppressing all data that shows that there is no real problem. This is clear Republican practice, and they sure haven't stopped.