More on how the Bushies may be meddling in Kansas elections

By Diane Silver

When the Kansas Legislature goes back into session Wednesday, we may well see how the long arm of the Bush Administration reaches out from Washington, D.C., to meddle in voting in Kansas.

At issue is a proposed Kansas law requiring voters to bring identification to polling places. Such a bill looks sensible at first blush. Unfortunately, the measure is (1) aimed at a problem that doesn't exist in Kansas, and even the bill's supporters admit that, and (2) could potentially limit voting by the poor who don't have easy access to drivers licenses or other IDs.

Muckraker.com does a good job today of showing how the firings of US Attorneys and a long-time Bush Administration attempt to purge voting rolls all fit together.

Has Kansas gotten tangled up in a long-armed attempt to undermine elections by limiting turnout among Democratic constituencies? In October, I wrote about some disturbing voter registration and polling problems in this state. Were these more than just simple goofs?

Bush & Alberto Gonzales: Undermining elections & the Kansas connection

By Diane Silver

Like the Energizer Bunny, the U.S. Attorney scandal keeps going and going. Whether you're a conservative or a liberal, I suspect, it also keeps getting more and more horrifying.

If you're a Bushie, the sight of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in front of Congress probably didn't brighten your day, no matter what the White House claims. The New York Times editorializes this morning:

If Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had gone to the Senate yesterday to convince the world that he ought to be fired, it’s hard to imagine how he could have done a better job, short of simply admitting the obvious: that the firing of eight United States attorneys was a partisan purge.

Mr. Gonzales came across as a dull-witted apparatchik incapable of running one of the most important departments in the executive branch.

Meanwhile, McClatchy Newspapers has uncovered a Bushie campaign to limit voter turnout in what appears to be a bold attempt to undermine elections in favor of the GOP.

For six years, the Bush administration, aided by Justice Department political appointees, has pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.

...

Questions about the administration's campaign against alleged voter fraud have helped fuel the political tempest over the firings last year of eight U.S. attorneys, several of whom were ousted in part because they failed to bring voter fraud cases important to Republican politicians.

The push for Voter ID laws, like the one in Kansas, is also part of this.

Joseph Rich, who left his job as chief of the section in 2005, said these events formed an unmistakable pattern.

"As more information becomes available about the administration's priority on combating alleged, but not well substantiated, voter fraud, the more apparent it is that its actions concerning voter ID laws are part of a partisan strategy to suppress the votes of poor and minority citizens," he said.

The Kansas Connection

The Kansas bill, which would require voters to bring identification to polling places, was narrowly defeated in the House during the regular session. However, it could come up again for a vote in the wrap-up session, which starts on Wednesday.

This bill is up for consideration despite the fact that, as the Lawrence Journal-World reports:

Supporters conceded they had no evidence of illegal immigrants trying to vote in Kansas, or other forms of voter fraud.

Scroll down to find the Voter ID section in this Journal-World capitol briefing.

So here we sit, far from Washington, and it seems clear: Kansas is caught in a nationwide GOP effort to repress voting by minorities and the poor.

Meanwhile, the Bush Administration claims to be exporting democracy to the rest of the world. How can they possibly do that when they don't seem to believe in democracy at home?