STOP Hans von Spakovsky NOW!

[feelthebreeze]

Call your senators! Raise holy hell!

From Susan Greenhalgh:

This is something so far under the radar that calls to Chuck and
Hillary (or Kerry and Kennedy) will probably really be noticed
because they will be shocked that anyone bothered. Please call.

Bush to nominate voter suppression specialist to the Federal Election
Commission

by david blue

Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 07:21:48 AM PDT


A big hat tip to Rick Hasen who noticed this White
House press release (buried in the Friday night
trash). President Bush is going to nominate Hans von
Spakovsky to the Federal Election Commission.

Who?

Well, Hans von Spakovsky is a long-time activist in
"voting integrity." Translated, he is a long-time
activist in keeping people away from the polls. His
ideas led to the notorious purge of Florida's voting
rolls before the 2000 election in which thousands of
mostly-eligible, mostly-Democratic, and
mostly-minority voters were removed from the voting
lists. Von Spakovsky also was a volunteer for Bush in
the Florida recount. Want more? It's all here.

This guy is a disaster. There is no way he should be
on the FEC. FEC Commissioners are subject to Senate
approval, so write or call your Senator.

UPDATE: Several commenters have asked which Senate
committee holds hearings on FEC nominees. It is the
Committee on Rules and Administration. Chair is Trent
Lott; ranking Dem is Christopher Dodd. Other Dems are
Byrd, Inouye, Feinstein, Schumer, Dayton, Durbin, and
Ben Nelson; other Republicans are Ted Stevens, Mitch
McConnell, Thad Cochran, Santorum, K.B. Hutchison,
Frist, Chambliss, Bennett, and Hagel. Some heavy
hitters on both sides.

[Canuckistanian]

1. And, he has the James Bond evil-villain name

Seriously, what is his connection with Florida? Any Katherine Harris ties?

[feelthebreeze]

2. There must be a match,cronyism is rampant in this group...

Here is a quick google search...
Hans von Spakovsky. A German industrialist? A compatriot of artist Hieronymus Bosch? No. He is an attorney who is presently the head of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Voting Section. He is a member of the right-wing Federalist Society, and joined other Bush cronies in the Florida recount battle in 2000, and he is President Bush's newest recipient of a crony-nomination.
An October 2004 article by Jordan Green in Southern Exposure stated von Spakovsky worked as a volunteer for the Bush campaign during the Florida recount effort. Von Spakovsky would fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Republican Commissioner Brad Smith.
Jeffrey Toobin, in the Sept. 20 edition of the New Yorker, reports that von Spakovsky is a longtime “voting integrity” activist from Georgia. Before coming to the Bush administration, he served on the board of advisers for an outfit known as the Voting Integrity Project (V.I.P.). In 1997, he wrote an article for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation advocating a campaign to “purge” felons from the voting rolls. The V.I.P. coordinated with Database Technologies, the company infamous for designing the program that disenfranchised thousands of legitimate Florida voters whose names were falsely matched with actual felons. During the 36-day recount in Florida, von Spakovsky worked as a volunteer for the Bush campaign.

[sunshinekathy]

3. I used http://senate.gov and wrote my senator

I wrote:

Hans von Spakovsky is a long-time
activist in keeping people away from the polls. His
ideas led to the notorious purge of Florida's voting
rolls before the 2000 election in which thousands of
mostly-eligible, and mostly-minority voters were removed from the voting
lists. Von Spakovsky also was a partisan volunteer for Bush in
the Florida recount. There is no way he should be
on the FEC due to his stance against voter rights.

http://senate.gov

Thanks for the heads up.

[feelthebreeze]

4. Nice letter, hope there are others like us who are comitted to the cause

[freedomfries]

5. kick & rec

thanks for posting and let's keep this up! No racist repression activist on the Federal Election Commission. We can't let that happen. Noway!

[feelthebreeze]

6. kick

[kster]

7. kick.nt

[freedomfries]

8. kick & thanks feelthebreeze

Please help push the issue on your senator's radar screen!
This nomination is a scandal!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/16/AR2005121601717_pf.html