Posted October 11, 2007 by J. Gerald Hebert

Obama Accuses von Spakovsky of Undermining Civil Rights

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) continues to speak out against the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky.  In a recent op-ed piece he published in the Chicago Defender, Senator Obama accuses von Spakovsky of working to chip away at hard-won civil rights achieved through perseverance and suffering at places like the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama – where 40 years ago “hundreds of everyday Americans brave[d] the blows of Billy clubs and join[ed] a march for freedom.” 

Senator Obama has made it clear that he “strongly opposes” the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to serve on the Federal Election Commission.  Senator Obama has done what we have urged other Senators to do: clearly scrutinize von Spakovsky’s record while he was at DOJ.  Senator Obama correctly observes that “from 2001 to 2005, von Spakovsky served as an official at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division where he amassed a record of undermining voting rights creating restrictions that would make it harder for poor and minority communities to vote, and putting partisan politics above our right to vote.”  Senator Obama makes no bones about the fact that he firmly believes that von Spakovsky should not be promoted for his past dirty deeds, and is not qualified to serve on a federal agency responsible for protecting the integrity of our federal elections.

We couldn’t agree more.