OCT 12, 2007

ELECTION PROTECTION ISSUES TEAM

OPPOSE SPAKOVSKY NOMINATION TO FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION

ACTION

Write letters to Senators Sherrod Brown and George Voinovich asking them to OPPOSE Bush’s nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to serve on the Federal Election Commission

DESCRIPTION

Hans von Spakovsky has a bad reputation as a partisan hack whose specialty is undermining the voting rights of minorities and the poor. When appointed as a voting rights specialist in the Justice Department, he used his position not to protect voting rights, but to find creative ways to undermine them by favoring extreme gerrymandering, asserting baseless charges of massive voter fraud, and supporting the plan to require photo ID’s at voting polls. He would bring that same shameful partisanship to the Federal Election Commission.

Bush knows his nominee is an embarrassment and chose initially to appoint him to the board with another one of his famous "recess appointments," to avoid Senatorial scrutiny. Now, however, the appointment must be confirmed or denied by the Senate for a full six year term.

While seats on the Federal Election Commission used to be given out as party favors by both parties, times have changed. Serious challenges to our systems are threatening citizen confidence in our elections. These serious challenges must be met by serious commissioners, with unquestionable integrity and solid qualifications. Mr. Spakovsky is Rovian mole and has no business sitting on this crucial commission.

CONTACT

Sherrod Brown http://brown.senate.gov/contact.cfm

George Voinovich http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

TALKING POINTS

Americans are concerned that their votes are being manipulated. We need to restore confidence in the election process. We don’t need a partisan person on the FEC.
A democracy seeks to invite more people into the electoral process, not to restrict voting to fewer people.
Spakovsky has shown he is interested in removing legitimate voters from the rolls, not in allowing more legitimate voters to get onto the rolls.

MORE INFO

Read about Spakovsky’s link to the Ohio elections of 2004!
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/reports/usattorneys/story/17303.html

Read about how Spakovsky’s baseless claims of voter fraud are used to undermine voters’ rights.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/reports/usattorneys/story/16347.html

Read a review of the Senatorial politics of the nomination process. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/justice/story/20002.html

Read a review of several nominees to the FEC, including an especially critical review of Spakovsky in the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/16/AR2005121601717_pf.html

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