Hawaii told to prove it complies with voter registration law

Source: McClatchy-Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON — Hawai'i is one of 18 states that have been sent a letter by the federal Justice Department over compliance with a civil rights law.

The letter asks the states to provide evidence that they're obeying the National Voter Registration Act, a 1993 law that's intended to make it easier for poor minorities and the disabled to register to vote

......

The McClatchy-Tribune News Service disclosed last spring that the Civil Rights Division had failed to enforce a variety of voting-rights laws intended to protect the ability of minorities, especially African-Americans, to vote. The controversy helped lead to the resignations of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and seven other officials, including Bradley Schlozman, the former acting civil rights chief.

......

In 2004, when President Bush was up for re-election, the section took the opposite stance on the Motor Voter law. Joseph Rich, the voting rights chief at the time, said voter-registration groups provided evidence of widespread noncompliance. But, Rich said, the division's voting rights counsel, Hans von Spakovsky, whom he's described as the "de facto voting rights chief," told him the section wasn't interested in stepping up enforcement.


Read more: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071109/NEWS21/711090351/1171/NEWS21