In Focus This Week
Former U.S. attorney sheds new light on ACORN case, little else
Witness who replaced fired attorney frustrates Senate committee
By Kat Zambon
electionline.org
Lawmakers in Washington this week continued their probe of the firings of U.S. attorneys, grilling the former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri who spearheaded indictments against former employees of an organization that registered new voters.
The Senate Judiciary Committee examined the indictments of four former employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) four days before last year’s Missouri general election. The indictments came from Bradley Schlozman, associate counsel to the director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and former U.S. attorney.
Schlozman replaced an attorney who later told the panel that he would have handled the ACORN case differently.
While the hearing revealed some inside details of how the case against ACORN went forward, the panel members frequently expressed frustration at memory lapses by the lead witness.
According to the Los Angeles Times, ACORN alerted authorities in October 2006 when they discovered that some employees were making up names as part of a voter registration drive. The suit was dismissed in April when a judge said the government failed to produce evidence of fraud or that any voter had been denied the right to vote because of the false registrations.
Schlozman attempted to clarify the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) actions in the ACORN case during his opening statement.
“While the ACORN matter arose in October, Department policy did not require a delay of this investigation and the subsequent indictments because they pertained to voter registration fraud (which examined conduct during voter registration), not fraud during an ongoing or contested election,” Schlozman said. “Consequently, the Department’s informal policy was not implicated in this matter. In sum, there was nothing unusual, irregular, or improper about the substance or timing of these indictments.”
A red book of DOJ rules, to which Democrats frequently quoted from during questioning, stated that “most, if not all, investigations of an alleged election crime must await the end of the election.”
Schlozman called the policy “informal” and said it does not forbid the filing of charges before an election.
Committee Democrats – no Republicans were present – did not agree. Asking about the election-eve indictments while holding the red book, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. said, “Would that be contrary to the policies in this book … Is there another book that I should be aware of?”
“Why didn’t you just wait a couple weeks more? Did that thought ever occur to you?” Leahy continued.
Schlozman said that Craig Donsanto, director of the Department’s election crimes unit gave him permission to pursue the ACORN case.
“If you’ve got an indictable case, bring it,” Schlozman said he was told by Donsanto. “The policy is that you do not do a case involving interviews of specific voters,” he said. However, in an email sent by former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to a DOJ legislative aide, Iglesias wrote that Donsanto would not authorize the opening of any investigation immediately before an election.
Schlozman reiterated that he thought the indictments were unlikely to intimidate voters because there was no need to interview them. “No individual would be disenfranchised … I did what I did at the direction of the Public Integrity section,” he said. “The Department of Justice does not time prosecutions to elections.”
“Oh yes, they do!” Leahy barked, raising his voice and waving the red book.
Todd Graves, the U.S. attorney Schlozman replaced, also testified at the hearing and said he would have handled the ACORN indictments differently.
“It surprised me that they had been filed that close to an election,” Graves told The Washington Post.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Schlozman why he chose to press charges since ACORN was cooperating with the investigation. Schlozman pointed out that while ACORN was cooperating, the four individuals indicted did not.
“We did complete our investigation very quickly” because of ACORN’s help, Schlozman said. “[ACORN] were actually the victims in this case.”
In related news, DOJ recently filed notice of appeal after a federal judge ruled the department had not proven that Missouri violated the National Voting Rights Act when it alleged that the state kept improper lists. Citing the April ruling by district judge Nanette Laughrey, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan expressed her disappointment that the DOJ “seems determined to continue this unnecessary and costly lawsuit” in a statement.
“The judge who heard this case was clear and unequivocal that [Carnahan’s office] had done its job with regard to voter list maintenance, and even went beyond federal requirements to assist the county clerks and election boards with their responsibilities and that there was no evidence of voter fraud in Missouri,” she said.
Election Reform News This Week
- The Connecticut Senate voted late last week to approve a pilot Election-day registration (EDR) program set to launch on Feb. 5, 2008, the day of the state’s Presidential primary. Bill sponsor Sen. Gayle S. Slossberg, D-Milford, told the Journal Inquirer she was confident the bill had support in the House. Gov. M. Jodi Rell (D) has said she supports the idea of EDR, but has not indicated whether or not she would sign the legislation should it reach her desk.
- In Iowa, where EDR takes effect Jan. 1, 2008, some county auditors are expressing concerns about the cost and possibility of voter fraud. The auditors said they were worried about the number of additional poll workers required to implement EDR. “We will need…additional people just to be on the safe side for the first election because we’re going to have at-the-polls registration,” Linn County Auditor Joel Miller told The Associated Press. However, Linda Langenberg, former auditor for Linn County and now assistant secretary of state, told The Associated Press that EDR might not be as popular and expensive as some auditors fear because Iowa has always allowed voters to change addresses at the polls and had provisional balloting.
- The Montgomery County, Ohio Voter Protection Coalition last week released a report examining voting machine malfunctions in the November 2006 election, particularly “vote-flipping” on the county’s Diebold TSx machines, whereby voters reported a machine did not show the proper candidate after they touched the screen to make their selection. The coalition found poor calibration was the culprit. In March, the coalition worked with the county board of elections to test 124 machines that had been used in the 2006 election. Among other things, the test revealed that “51 machines (41 percent) were far enough out of calibration that, in at least one race, they could ‘flip’ votes.” The report concluded that, “Because the machines which were tested were not randomly selected, the test does not allow us to draw conclusions about how common this problem is. It is clear, however, from the sheer number of machines which were significantly out of calibration, that the problem occurs frequently enough to be of concern.”
- Although poll workers and election judges are often referred to as volunteers, they do earn a stipend for their service. And Jackson County, Miss. poll workers just got a raise. Earlier this year, the Mississippi legislature voted to approve the $50 per day raise, but because the money comes from the county budget, it was up to the board of supervisors to make the final decision. Democratic Executive Committee Chairman Shelia Maki told a local television station that the decision is “a triumph for our poll workers.” Although Maki’s group is still pushing for more money for poll workers, she said this will help to attract qualified people. In addition to now making $125 for working an election day, poll workers will also get a $2-an-hour raise for training sessions.
- Statewide election reform is often the province of legislative committees, oft-ignored amendments and backroom deals in the statehouse. In Rhode Island, they are taking election reform to the people. Secretary of State Ralph Mollis (D) created the Voters First Advisory Commission to come up with election reform ideas. The commission is currently holding a series of statewide public meetings. Mollis told the Pawtucket Times that the mission of the commission is to review proposals for election reform that can be fine-tuned into legislation to be submitted to the General Assembly next January. Topics discussed at the first public hearing included: voter ID, polling place hours, polling place conditions, and foreign-language ballots.
Opinions This Week
Arizona: Voting machines
Florida: Election reform, II
Massachusetts: Absentee voting, Election-day registration, II, III, IV, Absentee voting
New Hampshire: Primary election
New York: HAVA compliance, Proposed legislation
Washington: Vote-by-mail, 2004 election
Wisconsin: Felon voting
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Job Postings This Week
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