Obama Ally Speaks Out For Tougher Voter ID Laws

By Josh Kraushaar and Sean Sullivan  //  October 24, 2011 | 12:52 p.m.
Updated: October 24, 2011 | 1:08 p.m.

Former Alabama Rep. Artur Davis, an African-American Democrat who was one of President Obama's close allies in Congress, wrote an op-ed in his hometown paper acknowledging voter fraud in his home state - and supporting voter-identification laws to crack down on such abuses.

"When I was a congressman, I took the path of least resistance on this subject for an African American politician. Without any evidence to back it up, I lapsed into the rhetoric of various partisans and activists who contend that requiring photo identification to vote is a suppression tactic aimed at thwarting black voter participation," Davis wrote in the Montgomery Advertiser.

"The truth is that the most aggressive contemporary voter suppression in the African American community, at least in Alabama, is the wholesale manufacture of ballots, at the polls and absentee, in parts of the Black Belt."

Davis is one of the very few Democrats to support the politically-charged issue of requiring stricter photo identification for voters before they can cast a ballot. Democrats have equated many of the laws being implemented or debated as akin to voter suppression - a charge that, in the South, evokes painful memories of Jim Crow-era disenfranchisement of blacks.

Several states have already passed laws requiring voter ID, including Davis' home state of Alabama, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Texas.

Davis' connections to Obama -- and his background as one of the few Democrats to break the party line on voter ID -- make his comments all the more notable.

The debate over voter identification laws are heating up in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election. Democrats are depending on high turnout among minorities, especially in a handful of battleground states, and oppose measures that they claim would make it harder for voters to obtain a state-issued photo identification.

"This idea that there is some massive class of African-Americans who don't have conventional IDs -- I don't think that's accurate. I think that actually in some cases can be a little bit patronizing," Davis told Hotline On Call. "I am certainly tired of seeing the issue demagogued and I am tired of seeing the allegation made that anybody who wants more transparency in voting is trying to keep African-Americans from voting."

Davis was a rising star during his eight years in the House, and represented a new generation of African-American leadership -- very much in the same mold as Obama. Elected in 2002, he was an early backer of Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, supporting him even before most members of the Congressional Black Caucus took sides in the primary. Davis later became a close confidant of Obama on Capitol Hill, and was mentioned as a possible candidate to serve as Attorney General. When he later ran a closely-watched campaign for governor of Alabama in 2010, Davis broke with the president on his health care reform law - and became more outspoken in criticizing Obama's policies after losing the election. He now is a partner at the law firm SNR Denton. "You can have a perspective on an issue that is different from Barack Obama and you can have a perspective on an issue that is different from the DNC and still be a good Democrat," Davis said.

Read & Post Comments
Leave A Comment
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus
Follow National Journal
About

Staff


Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief
Steve Shepard, Executive Editor
Julie Sobel, Editor
Kevin Brennan, Deputy Editor


Disclaimer


On Call editors reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments. The Hotline, National Journal Group, Inc. and Atlantic Media Company are not responsible for the content of the comments that remain.