'Disenfranchised' voters

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Copyright � Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: 'Disenfranchised' voters

Democrats hardly concerned about the integrity of voter registration process

The Democratic Party will apparently stop at nothing to completely bastardize the voter registration process. Fortunately, another judge has issued a common-sense decision to uphold the simple requirements that protect the integrity of one of our most sacrosanct rights.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King ruled in Miami that Florida election officials do not have to process incomplete voter registration forms. Apparently, thousands of people signed Florida registration forms to affirm their eligibility but failed to produce adequate identification, such as a Social Security number, or check boxes affirming their citizenship, mental capacity and felony status.

The lawsuit's backers, which include the AFL-CIO and the social action group Advancement Project, said an appeal of the decision would be filed by Friday.

Democrats are outraged that more voters have been 'disenfranchised.' Similar cries were heard in Clark County this month when District Judge Valerie Adair refused to reopen the voter registration period over Democratic Party allegations that a Republican-backed registration firm had selectively destroyed Democrats' forms.

At the core of both cases are the issues of integrity and personal responsibility -- and Democrats' desire to eliminate them from the registration process. In Florida, those who submitted incomplete forms could have participated in this year's election if they simply had followed instructions put in place to protect against fraud.

---