Eric Holder Probing State Voter ID Laws

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz makes a revealing comment in an interview:

The assistant attorney general for civil rights, Tom Perez, has assured Americans and members of Congress that the Voting Section [at DOJ] is looking very closely at the laws that have recently passed. They’ve acknowledged the concern that both I and others have expressed about the potential for these laws to have an undue and disproportionate impact on racial minorities and the poor. I trust that Tom Perez and Attorney General Eric Holder are reviewing these laws very seriously.

This almost certainly means that the DOJ Voting Section is looking at whether or not photo identification laws violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.  The overwhelming majority of Americans support voter ID, including Democrats.  But if there is a racially discriminatory effect, look for the DOJ to go after some state somewhere (I pick South Carolina) to activate their political base.  People often dismiss the merits of such a case.  But if the DOJ can show that minorities are disproportionately affected by the requirement to show ID at the polls, the case is stronger than many realize.  Is it a fight Holder wants heading into 2012?  Perhaps, especially when you need to rebuild a collapsing political base.