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Rep. Hank Johnson’s (D-GA) bill to protect both voting rights and voting machine security is stuck in Congress.
(Rep. Johnson is the same man who famously worried that the island of Guam would tip over due to too many people living on it. Apparently we are to nevertheless take his opinion on election integrity to be authoritative. The fact he is still in office speaks volumes about Democrats.)
In three weeks, the United States will conduct its first election in 50 years without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act. (This is a bit hyperbolic. The Supreme court decided that federal oversight of elections in several southern states was no longer needed, since blacks now hold a substantial number of elected offices, and black voter turnout is actually exceeding white turnout in many jurisdictions. In other words, the reason for these oversight provisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant.)
A wave of new laws in more than a dozen Republican-controlled states have imposed restrictions on when, where, and how people can cast a ballot. Those restrictions make students, lower-income voters, and voters of color more vulnerable to disenfranchisement. (Again a bit of hyperbole. More accurately stated, some states have curtailed or eliminated same-day registration for voting, and have imposed reasonable requirements to prove one's identity before they are able to vote.
The Constitution requires that it is to be citizens that vote:
AMENDMENT XV
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude--
Thus it is incumbent upon election officials to determine the citizenship status of those who vote, and reasonable efforts to do so are in no way curtailing voter rights.)
At the same time, the nation’s outdated voting infrastructure has repotedly (sic) been under repeated attack from hackers — possibly backed by the Russian government — who have penetrated both state election systems and Democratic Party personnel. (It is interesting indeed that the author complains about "outdated voting infrastructure" while linking to an article regarding modern voting machines being hacked. You know, if we actually used "outdated" paper ballots, there would be no way to hack them.)
Meanwhile, as GOP nominee Donald Trump slides lower in the polls, he has stepped up his warnings of widespread voter fraud. He has encouraged his supporters to patrol inner city polling places, sparking fears of illegal acts of intimidation or post-election violence. (Trump is correct. There is most definitely a voter intimidation problem, most famously the one perpetrated by the Black Panthers.)
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), (Now comes the somber consideration of Rep. Johnson as if he was some sort of trustworthy authority.)
who represents the Atlanta suburbs, has been focusing on both voting rights and voter security issues for several years, but he says the current political climate has made him more fearful than ever. He spoke to ThinkProgress by phone from his office in Lithonia, Georgia about his new bill to combat hacking and voter suppression, his concerns for voters in his home state, and his long-shot hope that Democrats will take back the House.
What are your greatest concerns as we approach Election Day?
I don’t want to set off any alarms, (Actually, he is most certainly setting off alarms, or to appropriate a leftist meme, he's using "dog-whistle" techniques to rile up his ideological sympathizers.)
but it’s clear that our election process is susceptible to corruption of the results through a cyber attack. The specter of election contamination is definitely a possibility, and it has been highlighted by recent successful attempts to hack into state voter registration databases — at least two and perhaps as many as 20. These attempts have been attributed to the Russians. But we know that such attacks can come from external or internal forces. It should press upon us the need to protect the security of our election, which is why I introduced the Election Integrity and Infrastructure Act of 2016.
Since there isn’t time for your bill to pass, let alone be implemented, [before November 8], how can we ensure this election is protected?
I’m heartened that at least 22 states have taken the Department of Homeland Security up on its offer to help states and local governments protect their voting systems. So I don’t agree with those spreading undue alarm about the prospects for free and fair elections on November 8.
But your state, Georgia, refused the federal government’s offer of security aid, even though [Georgia] failed to keep voters’ data secure earlier this year in a massive breach.
Correct, which doesn’t make me feel good about the state of Georgia and its reliance on archaic electronic voting machines that have no paper trail. They have put us in a position where we can’t conduct meaningful recounts of election contests. (Remember the author's reference to "outdated voting infrastructure?")
Your bill addresses both voter security issues, by requiring all states to purchase machines that can be audited, and voter access issues, such as an expansion of early voting. Why combine the two issues?
Republicans have shown themselves to not be above suppressing African Americans’ ability to vote. This was always going on, but it sped up after the U.S. Supreme Court removed the pre-clearance requirement, and we saw a spate of voter suppression legislation pass. (This is another "dog whistle," that it is blacks who are being targeted. However, voter ID requirements are race blind. Everyone must produce ID in order to vote.)
This will be the first national election held without the protection of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. There are a lot of threats that are out there, particularly with respect to African-American voters, and those voters tend to vote Democratic. The Democratic Party is bearing the brunt of this, but we’re all hoping it won’t occur. (Democrats have a vested interest in making sure that anyone can vote regardless of who they are, citizen or not. As long as they vote Democrat, of course. Framing it as a black issue is facile.)
Bills to restore the Voting Rights Act have not gone anywhere in Congress in three years. Even if Democrats win this election by a landslide, the chances of taking back the House are extremely low. (It is interesting how the Left loves court decisions that go their way, proclaiming them to be the "settled law of the land" [i.e., abortion], but balk at other "settled" decisions.)
How will the Voting Rights Act ever get back to its full strength?
Some people see Democrats picking up 33 seats in the House as an impossible dream, but that possibility is becoming more real as the top of the Republican ticket continues to melt down. Perhaps some of those who may have been deceived into supporting Donald Trump will not turn out. If their turnout is low and our turnout is high, it’s possible that the House could revert to a Democratic majority.
Is that the only hope you see for the Voting Rights Act and your Election Integrity bill? Is is an “impossible dream” to work with Republicans to pass them?
I don’t see Republicans in the House or Senate doing anything to change the status quo with respect to voting rights. In fact, see them taking steps to take us backwards even further.
And under Republican leadership, we’ve been stuck on Benghazi, the IRS, [Hillary Clinton’s] e-mail servers and other so-called scandals. (With a dismissive wave of the hand Rep. Johnson poo-poos these serious issue, as if the consideration of them is an either-or situation opposed to voting rights.)
They’ve consumed the attention of those who control policy-making. This has been perhaps the most do-nothing Congress in modern times. (A typical leftist talking point. However, this congress has been passing bills at a record rate.)
We’re really doing the public a disservice when we stay mired in partisan, political gridlock. (Perhaps, perhaps not. Gridlock is an expected manifestation of opposing viewpoints, and not at all a disservice. What the Congressman is bemoaning is his party's inability to install its agenda. But Democrats are in the minority, and should not expect their agenda to proceed.)
Donald Trump and other Republicans are pushing the narrative that the election will be “rigged.” He has claimed people are crossing the border to vote and that voter fraud is widespread. What is your response to such statements?
I hope sensible people will do their research and find that voter fraud has been nowhere near what you could call rampant. There have been very few cases of voter fraud brought to light even though they have been looking for it for many years. (Dead people voting? Unidentified people voting? Republican election monitors being removed? Or this local example?)
Meanwhile, people are not talking enough about ballot fraud — the impact a cyber attack could have on our ballots. (Wait. Isn't "ballot fraud" the same thing as "voter fraud?")
We have adequate protections in place to prevent voter fraud, but nothing to prevent ballot fraud.
How has your experience as a black man growing up in the South shaped your views on voting rights?
I remember standing in long lines to vote because there were not enough polling places. And as a young lawyer in 1980, I worked on two voting rights cases on multi-member districts in DeKalb County. It was a tactic used to dilute minority voting strength back then.
I’ve watched how voter suppression has evolved since then. For instance, now we have all of these requirements for state-issued identification in order to vote. To get one, you need your birth certificate, your Social Security card. Many people don’t have all of the documentation they need.
It’s disappointing that we haven’t overcome fully the desires of some to keep black folks from voting, and that we’re still fighting those battles.
This interview was edited for length and clarity. (Oh really? Why does that not surprise me? Did he say something stupid or false and it had to be edited out? Did he ramble about unrelated topics which made him seem like an idiot? Did he make astonishing claims not based on reality? Well, we will never know, because he had a sympathetic political operative interviewing him and covering for him.)
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