Charges Of Voter Fraud Ignite Accusations Of Racism Against Justice Department, Tea Party
With just 3 days to go until Election Day, charges of voter intimidation and voter fraud are flying, and the Justice Department, which has been rocked by accusations of reverse racism in its handling of similar allegations, is likely to take on as many cases as it did in the 2008 presidential year.
The Justice Department is looking into allegations of voter intimidation by poll watchers in predominantly minority neighborhoods in Harris County, Texas, during the first day of early voting. A liberal blog suggested that some of the poll watchers could be members of a local Tea Party group.
But the Justice Department has made clear that its investigation has nothing to do with the Tea Party.
"There is no investigation into any specific political organization, including the Tea Party, at this time regarding this matter," DOJ spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a written statement.
In another set of fly-by charges, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, who is battling to capture President Obama's old U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, accused his Republican opponent, Rep. Mark Kirk, of setting up voter fraud-watch areas in Chicago in an attempt to discourage black voters.
That claim, disputed by Kirk -- he argued that Giannoulias might be the last person in Illinois to think the state doesn't have fraud problems -- could benefit Democrats among an energized urban electorate in a non-presidential cycle likely to be dominated by suburban voters.
Taken together, the complaint and the report shifts the spotlight back on past and current accusations of racism against the Obama administration and the Tea Party movement.
The Justice Department has been fending off charges of reverse racism ever since two former Civil Rights Division attorneys alleged that the department under Attorney General Eric Holder follows a policy of not bringing civil rights charges against black defendants on behalf of white victims.
The Tea Party movement has been repeatedly accused of harboring racist elements ever since some Tea Party activists catcalled U.S. lawmakers, including some minority members, during an anti-'Obamacare' protest on Capitol Hill earlier this year.
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Sources: CNN, Daily Beast, Fox News, Freedom Lighthouse, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps
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