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Antoine Morris
civilrights.org

Jun 12, 2007 12:00 AM EDT

During his tenure in the U.S. Department of Justice, Hans von Spakovsky made it harder for Americans to vote.

Now the Bush administration has nominated him to the Federal Elections Commission. If confirmed by the Senate, he could influence election law in this country for the next three election cycles, a prospect that should alarm all who care about the right to vote.

As an attorney in the civil rights division of the Justice Department from 2001-2005, von Spakovksy did everything in his power to minimize the vote, particularly of minorities and Democrats. 

  • But when the law came up for review by the Justice Department, von Spakovsky, knowingly and unethically, did not recuse himself from the review and led the charge to have the law validated.

The result: Georgia minorities, the poor, the disabled, seniors, and those living in rural areas would have a harder time getting the necessary documents to vote in Georgia.  That law is currently on appeal.

Von Spakovsky also tried to undermine the work of a commission looking at the impact new voter ID laws.

Von Spakovsky found new ways of disenfranchising minority voters. 

With competitive races in 2008 on the horizon, having von Spakovsky serve a six-year term on the FEC would give him additional opportunities to undermine the progress made on ensuring fair elections and, even, potentially unjustly influencing the outcome of numerous races.

 

 

Hans von Spakovksy Fact Sheet

Von Spakovsky's Anti-Voting Rights Agenda

Exploiting Enforcement of Voting Rights Laws

Why He Is Wrong for the FEC
As a commissioner of the only body that enforces federal campaign finance laws, von Spakovsky has consistently exhibited partisanship and a contempt for the right to vote.  With competitive races in 2008 on the horizon, von Spakovsky in a four year term on the FEC could undercut fair elections and potentially and unjustly influence the outcome of numerous races across the nation.