Tag: identification
Chris Christie And His Control Of Voting Regulations

Chris Christie And His Control Of Voting Regulations

Chris Christie appeared before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Tuesday, and emphasized his eagerness to keep Republican governors in power before the 2016 presidential election. Specifically, he stressed the importance of letting Republicans control voting regulations.

“Would you rather have Rick Scott in Florida overseeing the voting mechanism, or Charlie Crist? Would you rather have Scott Walker in Wisconsin overseeing the voting mechanism, or would you rather have Mary Burke? Who would you rather have in Ohio, John Kasich or Ed FitzGerald?” Christie rhetorically asked.

In the past four years, Republicans have waged a highly partisan battle over voting rights. The Brennan Center for Justice tracks how conservative politicians began “passing laws and executive actions that would make it harder for many citizens to vote.” This trend began after the 2010 midterm elections brought new state legislative majorities, which “pushed a wave of laws cracking down on voting,” according to Wendy R. Weiser, the center’s director.

As the map below illustrates, a number of states moved forward with controversial voting changes in 2013, after the Supreme Court invalidated section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This effectively made it possible for nine states, mostly in the South, to adjust their election laws without prior federal approval.

The map shows the 21 states which will have new voting restrictions in place for November’s elections. Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin — the governors of which Christie specifically name-checked — are among the states with restrictive new laws.

Map from the Brennan Center for Justice

Map: Brennan Center for Justice

An October report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that voter identification laws, one of the most common restrictions, affected people aged 18 to 23 more than those from 44 to 53. The drop in voter turnout was also more pronounced among blacks than other ethnicities, and was greater among newly registered voters than those registered at least 20 years. Each of these constituencies is disproportionately likely to support Democratic candidates.

Along with stricter voter identification requirements, Governor Christie is also in favor of restricting early voting.

As Christie was initiating his own re-election bid last May, he vetoed a bill that would have allowed in-person early voting in New Jersey during the two weeks before elections. Christie claimed that the costs incurred would have been too great.

He has also gone on the record to vehemently oppose same-day registration for voting. In an August visit to Illinois, Christie referred to same-day voting as part of Democrats’ attempts to use “every trick in the book” to help their candidates win.

In his speech on Tuesday, Christie stressed that the party affiliation of governors will be especially significant for the 2016 presidential race.

“If you don’t really care what happens in these states, you’re going to care about who is running the state in November of 2016, what kind of political apparatus they’ve set up and what kind of governmental apparatus they’ve set up to ensure a full and fair election in 2016,” he said.

Christie points to the three gubernatorial candidates of Crist, Burke, and FitzGerald as cautionary tales of what will happen if Democrats take over the statehouses in question. All three of these candidates have campaigned on the importance of protecting voting rights.

AFP Photo/Eric Thayer

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Mexican Couple In N.C. Receives Birth Certificate After Official Denied It

Mexican Couple In N.C. Receives Birth Certificate After Official Denied It

By Joe Marusak, The Charlotte Observer

STATESVILLE, N.C. — Two undocumented immigrants living in Statesville received a birth certificate for their newborn daughter on Monday, nearly two weeks after the couple was denied one for what the office called a lack of valid documentation.

Rolando Acosta and Virginia Lopez Garcia were originally denied a birth certificate by Iredell County Register of Deeds Matt McCall, a decision that prompted a protest outside his office earlier Monday by 20 members of El Cambio, a Mocksville, N.C.-based immigrant rights organization.

“Undocumented! Unafraid!” the protesters chanted in Spanish and then English. They sang the civil rights era anthem, “We Shall Overcome,” and held placards saying, “Fire Matt McCall.”

McCall faces Republican Kimberly Harrell in a primary contest May 6. Crystal Mayes has filed as a candidate for register of deeds as a Democrat.

The protesters were joined by Iredell County commissioner Renee Griffith, a candidate for county clerk of court. While she strongly opposes illegal immigration, she said, the couple’s baby was born in Iredell County and “is as much a U.S. citizen as Mr. McCall’s newly born son.”

McCall issued the birth certificate after the couple, carrying newborn Sharon Esther Acosta Lopez, walked from the rally and into McCall’s office with a document from Iredell Memorial Hospital certifying the birth.

“Thank you to God,” Acosta said later through a translator. He also thanked the Rev. Sifredo Rivera, the Statesville minister who helped the couple.

McCall said the couple hadn’t presented the hospital certificate the first time they applied. But Rivera told The Charlotte Observer that the couple, who he said are undocumented, had shown the hospital certificate to McCall the first time. He said McCall told them he was denying them the birth certificate because “they have no legal status in the United States.” Rivera said he also was present the first time the couple went to McCall’s office.

McCall said he never made that statement. “We have issued birth certificates to foreign citizens with valid documents,” McCall said. “We issue thousands of birth certificates, if they have valid documents.”

Acosta, who said he is a factory worker who has lived in Statesville for at least 10 years, said he had presented a Mexican Consulate card and a nonvalidated passport the first time he and his wife applied.

Neither is a legally valid form of identification, McCall said.

After issuing the couple the birth certificate, McCall denied certificates for two other women, who are members of Rivera’s church, who had only those forms of identification. McCall urged them to return with their children’s hospital certificates.

McCall showed news reporters on Monday a copy of the state statute showing which forms of identification he can legally accept. A register of deeds official in neighboring Catawba County said her office has the same photo ID requirements.

“We’re just trying to make sure we’re in compliance with state statutes and protecting against identity theft,” McCall said.

Photo via Flickr