Lorain County, Ohio, has caved in to demands of Justice Department Voting Section, where I used to work, to use Spanish language ballots across the entire county. The law (Section 4e of the Voting Rights Act) does not require a remedy of this scope. In my new book, Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department (Regnery), I wrote:
Overall, the Civil Rights Division has been sanctioned $4,107,595 for bringing frivolous cases or engaging in misconduct, none of which was assessed during the Bush administration. This holds a crucial lesson for U.S. businesses: when the Civil Rights Division sues you, don’t assume it has a good case. Businesses [and governments like Lorain] typically presume they can’t win against these lawsuits, but millions of dollars in misconduct fines say otherwise.
Elections director Paul Adams said that if they didn’t cave it would have been too costly. Poppycock. Being burdened with the foreign language regimen imposed by DOJ is far more expensive than a well targeted battle against federal government overreach. Why didn’t the board push back? Lorain Board Chairman Bob Rousseau chanelled Neville Chamberlin:
“I don’t recall a complaint ever coming to the board, but we’re going to follow what the Department of Justice recommends,” he said. “I think we got a pretty good deal compared to what they could have done.”
No complaints. But whatever Eric Holder wants, Eric Holder gets. And people wonder why the federal government has grown so powerful.
Section 4e of the Voting Rights Act allows targeting of ballots in pockets of a county where they might be needed – or – perhaps even the right to use a foreign language ballot upon request. And where are the pro-English groups? They could still intervene in the case filed by DOJ, along with the consent decree filed with Lorian’s surrender, and intervene in the case to make the remedy more reasonable. But they better do it quick, like Tuesday. They probably won’t, because DOJ is adept and speeding these things through before interested parties know what hit them. Lorain should point to the approach taken by Seminole County, Florida, which ensures everyone who needs a Spanish ballot gets one, but doesn’t force the county to pay the significant monetary price for using foreign ballots. Lorain is another example of Eric Holder’s Injustice Department grabbing illegitimate power for the federal government. It is also another example of surrender.
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