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Advocacy Blog
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Congressional Hearings Examine Election Issues
The House Judiciary Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee passed a resolution, with a 6-4 vote, authorizing a subpoena to former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell for testimony about the 2004 election. On January 29, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) wrote a letter to Blackwell to "explore the state of voting rights and the allocation of resources to end voter suppression and voter fraud," but he has refused to appear voluntarily. The Associated Press quoted Conyers; "Mr. Ken Blackwell, wherever you are in North America today, please know that we are not sending the gendarme for you this moment," said Conyers. "I do not like to issue subpoenas. ... The only problem is we can never reach him."
Following this vote a hearing was held on voter suppression. Witnesses included Asheesh Agarwal, deputy assistant attorney general, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice; Tom Emmer, deputy minority leader, Minnesota State House of Representatives; J. Gerald Hebert, executive director, The Campaign Legal Center; Lorraine C. Minnite, assistant professor, Barnard College; Hilary O. Shelton, director, Washington Bureau, NAACP.
And today (February 27), the House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee held a hearing on election administration issues. Meanwhile, in the Senate, the Committee on Rules and Administration held a hearing to examine abusive robocalls and vote caging practices. A few of those testifying were to discuss experiences at the state level with implementing efforts to limit robocalls.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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