The head of Sen. Rand Paul's political action committee charges the New York Times misconstrued the Kentucky Republican's comments about voter ID and refused to publish a statement of correction.
The Times report said the senator had broken with fellow Republicans over voter ID.
However, in a statement delivered to WND, Doug Stafford, Paul's former chief of staff who now leads his political action committee, said the quote was taken out of context.
"Sen. Paul was having a larger discussion about criminal justice reform and restoration of voting rights, two issues he has been speaking about around the country and pushing for in state and federal legislation," Stafford said.
Amid conversations by GOP leaders over the need to crack down on fraud at the polls, the Times said Paul believes "the focus on such measures alienates and insults African-Americans and hurts the party."
"Everbody's gone completely crazy on this voter ID thing," the Times quoted Paul saying. "I think it's wrong for Republicans to go too crazy on this issue because it's offending people."
But Stafford explained that in the course of Paul's discussion with the Times, he "reiterated a point he has made before that while there may be some instances of voter fraud, it should not be a defining issue of the Republican Party, as it is an issue that is perhaps perceived in a way it is not intended."
"In terms of the specifics of voter ID laws, Sen. Paul believes it's up to each state to decide that type of issue," Stafford said.
The Times quote quickly spread across media.
Politico, for example, reported: "Rand Paul has said that the GOP's push for tough voter ID and related laws is 'offending' minorities and that the party shouldn't 'go too crazy' on the matter."
The Times said about its interview with the senator: "Mr. Paul becomes the most prominent member of his party – and among the very few – to distance himself from the voting restrictions and the campaign for their passage in states under Republican control, including North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin, that can determine presidential elections. Civil rights groups call the laws a transparent effort to depress black turnout."
Efforts to combat election fraud and corruption are under way in dozens of states after the exposure of numerous holes in the system.
Sign WND's petition urging Congress to investigate fraud and abuse in America's election system!
Charges that the measures to curb fraud are racist arose when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The provision required that certain jurisdictions, almost exclusively in Southern states, get approval from Washington before changing any voting rules, laws or procedures.
The issue likely will be on the front burner in the 2014 and 2016 elections. In March, the government watchdog group Judicial Watch demanded that the District of Columbia, Iowa and Colorado remove from their voter registration lists dead voters and former residents within 90 days or face a lawsuit.
Judicial Watch said there are more people registered to vote in some of those locations than the Census Bureaus indicates are eligible. The Obama administration has attacked several of the voter security proposals in court, and undercover videos have revealed problems with vote fraud and retaliation by officials who expose it.
For example, undercover investigative reporter James O'Keefe revealed officials in New Hampshire tried to indict him for revealing problems with voter fraud.
A report by the inspector general of the Department of Justice concluded its Civil Rights Division – one of the most powerful organizations in the federal government – exhibits hostility toward protecting the civil rights of whites.
The 258-page report from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said many workers under Attorney General Eric Holder are "hostile" to the idea that white Americans are protected by the Voting Rights Act and even civil rights laws.
Rep. Frank Wolf., R-Va., said the report "makes clear that the division has become a rat's nest of unacceptable and unprofessional actions, and even outright threats against career attorneys and systemic mismanagement."
WND reported after the 2012 election that "members of the president's team did everything possible to rig the game in their favor."
"They took liberties with the law Republicans would never dare attempt and obstructed voter-integrity efforts at every turn, while the vast political-media-entertainment-education-union-nonprofit complex went all in to promote Obama's narrative."
The report documented:
- 75 GOP vote inspectors were ordered to leave Philadelphia poll locations by Democrat poll judges. One judge was caught on audio. A court order sent the poll workers back to their posts, but the question remains: What went on while they were away. The poll locations were all within the 59 precincts in which Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney received no votes.
- In Philadelphia, the Community Voters Project, an ACORN clone that employs former ACORN workers, shredded Republican voter registrations. It's not the first ACORN has been in trouble.
- The Florida AFL-CIO threatened True the Vote and Tampa Fair Vote with legal action for submitting voter registration challenges.
- Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., issued a highly publicized threat against True the Vote and Election Integrity Maryland just for checking voter rolls. EIM found 11,000 questionable registrations, including 1,566 dead voters. The Maryland Board of Elections took no action.
- Cummings also attacked the Ohio Voter Integrity Project with the same baseless claims.
- Think Progress falsely claimed True the Vote was "under investigation" by Cummings, although he has no legal authority to do so.
- Despite overwhelming nonpartisan public support for voter ID laws, Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department and liberal jurists have delayed, emasculated or defeated ID laws in Texas, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Arizona and Pennsylvania.
- Holder has vowed to fight voter ID laws, claiming they restrict voters' rights.
- The Obama administration "spiked investigations" in eight states that had major voter roll problems.
- The Holder Justice Department conspired with Project Vote on National Voter Registration Act (aka Motor Voter) enforcement lawsuits, which force state and local agencies to become, essentially, low income voter registration drives.
- In 2009, DOJ announced to its attorneys that it would not enforce voter roll maintenance laws because it wouldn't increase voter turnout.
The report said the Pew Research Center published evidence revealing election rolls in a shambles nationwide. They found:
- 24 million invalid or inaccurate voter registrations
- 1.8 million deceased voters
- 2.75 million registered in multiple states.
The report concluded: "So is vote fraud real? Yes. Did it occur in this election? Yes. Was it enough to steal the election? In reality, although no single instance or aspect of vote fraud was likely enough to tip the election for Obama, the aggregate of their corrupt activities – including illegal campaign donations, taking advantage of states without voter ID requirements, military ballots delivered too late, as well as the laundry list of elements identified in this report, may well have been.
"Election 2012 provides a powerful justification for, at a minimum, enacting strong voter ID laws throughout the nation and a repeal of the most anti-Democratic voting legislation ever written, the National Voter Registration Act.
"Protecting the integrity of the vote will prevent election theft and give voters more confidence in clean elections, a confidence that is today justifiably lacking," the report found.
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