[EL] Justice Department Investigates Pennsylvania Voter ID Law

[John Tanner]

I share Mike's recollection that it is unusual for an Assistant Attorney
General to sign such correspondence.  I signed formal demand letters to GA
and jurisdictions in NJ and MA -- or perhaps line attorneys signed them
after I had reviewed the letter.  I don't recall specifically, but I would
have bristled at having to get an AAG signature.  I also signed lots of
informal letters asking for registration lists and information on poll
workers, as did line attorneys.

And I agree that the letter also asks for information that is outside the
scope of 1974 (after a quick glance, only item 1 seems to fall clearly
within the statute).

On Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 10:39 AM, Pitts, Michael Jude <mjpitts at iupui.edu>wrote:

>  There are a couple of interesting aspects—one procedural and one
> substantive—of the Department of Justice’s letter to the Commonwealth of
> Pennsylvania that demands information related to the Commonwealth’s nascent
> photo ID law.****
>
> ** **
>
> The procedural aspect is that the letter was signed by the Assistant
> Attorney General for Civil Rights rather than a career attorney in the
> Voting Section.  Perhaps some of my former DOJ colleagues on this listserve
> would disagree, but my recollection is that’s not the usual course of
> events for such a letter.  Put simply, it’s somewhat unusual for the
> Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights to sign a letter that
> essentially opens an investigation.  I can think of at least a couple of
> reasons for this atypical process.  First, the investigation is so high
> profile that just the mere opening of an investigation warrants the
> Assistant Attorney General’s signature.  Second, it could reflect that
> there is some dissension amongst the career lawyers as to the propriety of
> the letter.****
>
> ** **
>
> The substantive aspect is that the Assistant Attorney General’s demand for
> information is made pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1974 and it seems unlikely that
> this statute applies to at least some of what the Assistant Attorney
> General is requesting.  Without quoting the entirety of the statute, the
> gist of the statute seems to be that Commonwealth officials are required to
> keep records related to a federal election for 22 months following a
> federal election.  I don’t quite see how Pennsylvania’s current driver’s
> license and personal identification database—the second item requested in
> the letter—falls within the scope of that statute.  Put differently, I
> doubt Pennsylvania’s driver’s license database is a record related to a
> federal election held in Pennsylvania during the past 22 months.****
>
> ** **
>
> It will be interesting to see how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
> responds to the request for information.  On the one hand, the Commonwealth
> probably has a legitimate argument that it does not have to provide at
> least some of the information demanded in the letter.  On the other hand,
> Pennsylvania may just want to comply with the demand in order to show it
> has nothing to hide, as the law often operates in the shadow of public
> relations.****
>
> ** **
>
> Best,****
>
> Mike****
>
> ** **
>
> Michael J. Pitts****
>
> Professor of Law & Dean's Fellow****
>
> Chair, Faculty Recruitment Committee****
>
> Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law****
>
> 530 West New York Street****
>
> Indianapolis, IN 46202****
>
> 317-278-9155****
>
> mjpitts at iupui.edu****
>
> Webpage: http://indylaw.indiana.edu/people/profile.cfm?Id=293****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:
> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *Ryan J.
> Reilly
> *Sent:* Monday, July 23, 2012 5:51 PM
> *To:* law-election at uci.edu
> *Subject:* [EL] Justice Department Investigates Pennsylvania Voter ID Law*
> ***
>
> ** **
>
>
> http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/doj_investigates_pennsylvania_voter_id_law.php
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Ryan J. Reilly
> Reporter, TPM****
>
> http://talkingpointsmemo.com/ryan_j_reilly.php****
>
> office: 202-758-3048 x208****
>
> cell: 202-527-9261****
>
> ghat: ryanjreilly****
>
> twitter: @ryanjreilly <http://www.twitter.com/ryanjreilly>****
>
> ** **
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20120724/1e55c4ca/attachment.html>