Press Releases

McDonnell Fought Federal Voting Rights Bill

Posted by Greg on Tuesday, December 16

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 16, 2008
 
McDonnell Fought Federal Voting Rights Bill
Attorney General, GOP Have a History of Resisting Reforms

Virginia Democrats questioned Bob McDonnell's sudden commitment to election reform on Tuesday, given his history of making it harder for Virginians to vote, most notably by fighting the federal "motor voter" law.

While in the General Assembly, McDonnell voted along with Governor George Allen against implementing federal "motor voter" law that would have made it easier for Virginians to register to vote by mail, at the DMV or at military recruitment centers. [SB911, 2/21/95, 2/25/95].  Ultimately, the federal government had to sue the Commonwealth to institute the voting rights law.

"We cannot understand why any elected official would stand in the way of making it easier to register to vote," Assistant Attorney General Deval L. Patrick, then head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, said at the time.

"Even as voter turnouts continue their long decline towards levels of participation that threaten to imperil the perceived legitimacy of the electoral process, most Republican legislators persist in resisting or seeking to water down such measures as the Motor Voter Law, which they invariably (and correctly) see as threatening to their relative vote counts," the Roanoke Times editorialized. [Roanoke Times, 7/1/96]

McDonnell and Richmond Republicans have consistently fought voting rights rules -- including many of the measures that McDonnell sought to remedy in Tuesday's reform packages.

"Bob McDonnell is acting like he's suddenly seen the light that it's time to help more Virginians to vote," said Jared Leopold, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia. "But Virginians ought to ask whether McDonnell's 'Hallelujah moment' is just a cynical election-year ploy. If Bob McDonnell and Richmond Republicans had their way when they were in charge, thousands of Virginians would not have been able to easily register to participate in the historic 2008 elections."

In response to issues raised during this year's history presidential election, McDonnell called Tuesday for a variety of reforms, such as allowing campaign paraphernalia at polling places and expanding absentee voting privileges to first responders. However, many of McDonnell's reforms would already have been enacted if not for the actions of McDonnell's own party in Richmond.

McDonnell announced Tuesday that he aims to fix a 2002 law requiring overseas military ballots to include a witness' signature - a law originally written by his running mate, Lt. Governor Bill Bolling. [Virginian-Pilot, 10/24/08]

McDonnell called for lifting the ban on campaign apparel at polling places -- a proposal that Richmond Republicans have rejected for the past two years. Del. Bob Brink (D-Arlington) has introduced two measures to lift the now-infamous ban on campaign apparel at polling places, but both of his attempts have died at the hands of the Republican-controlled House Privileges & Elections Committee, whose members include Virginia GOP Chairman Jeff Frederick. [HB1769, 1/26/07; HB619, 2/1/08] Frederick, of course, made national headlines during the presidential campaign by repeatedly raising the specter of "voter fraud" and suggesting that Virginians would be vulnerable to identity theft if they registered to vote. [Virginian-Pilot, 8/2/08]

McDonnell proposed extending absentee votes to first responders. However, in the past few years, Richmond Republicans on the House P&E committee have resisted bills from Democrats that would expand absentee voting privileges to volunteer firefighters and EMTs, senior citizens and even pregnant women. [SB1104, 2/18/05; SB65, 2/17/06; HB763, 1/27/06; HB587, 1/27/06; HB80, 1/27/06; HB2911, 1/26/07; HB2069, 1/19/07; HB2072, 1/19/07]

The House P&E committee - along with two of McDonnell's fellow statewide candidates from the State Senate, Bolling and Sen. Ken Cuccinelli - has also defeated a variety of bills allowing "no excuse" absentee voting, which would allow all eligible voters to vote absentee for any reason. [HB2636, 1/28/05; HB2153, 1/28/05; HB1909, 1/28/05; HB562, 1/27/06; HB2574; 1/19/07; SB1373, 1/23/01; SB1216, 1/23/01; SB1226, 2/1/05; SB920, 1/29/07; SB69, 2/4/08]

"We hope Bob McDonnell and the Richmond Republicans really plan on working together to improve voter registration and participation," Leopold said. "But one press release does not erase a decades-long record of opposing Virginians' right to vote."

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