>>> government's fight on an attempt to suppress the minority vote in this country. a texas state law requiring a photo i.d. to cast a ballot is on hold until a federal court decides whether it can be enforced. the measure deprives hispanic voters who tend to lack this kind of identification. pete williams just sat down with attorney general eric holder . what did the attorney general told do you in this new interview?
>> he calls this a solution in search of a problem. he says requiring a photo i.d. does set up a problem to a constitutional fundamental right.
>> we want to make sure that our elections are free from fraud, but there's no proof that our elections are marred by in-person voter fraud .
>> we have to show driver's licenses to do lots of things in our live, to get on a plane, even to buy sudafed. voting is a fundamental constitutional right. you shouldn't have to show additional i.d. many people that don't have them would have to pay money or go to great lengths or travel great dances in order to get one. in texas you have to be fingerprinted to get the photo i.d. as the alternative for the driver's license. for all these reasons he says the texas one the justice department decided would get in the way of voting and that would be unconstitutional. as a separate matter, the other states that don't have to get pre-clearance, he thinks it's a matter of bad public policy. he realizes that this is something every state legislature is looking at.
>> supporters of the law dismissed the federal government 's move as election year politics while others argue it's merely defending the right to vote. sheila jackson lee joining us live from her district in houston. thank you for your time.
>> it's very nice to be with you.
>> department of justice says 81 of texas ' 254 counties do not have place where people can get a driver's license. there's not an operational driver's license. to me that seems to be the tip of the problem here. if you're going to require people to have this i.d., you should have the access available. what are your concerns here?
>> well, the justice department decision was thoughtful, well reviewed decision after seeking to determine whether the voting rights law in texas or the voter i.d. law was correct. frankly, this is a reflection of the law, the voting rights act which says one person, one vote and as texas sought to implement or put in place a voter i.d., picture i.d. they didn't think it through. there seem to be under pinnings of trying to dumb down or depress the minority vote. 81 counties without a d.p.s. asking the home bound or those that are seniors who are also impacted in a devastating manner to find other ways to get a voter i.d. or picture i.d., telling students that if you have a state issued student i.d. from a university that is accredited that you cannot use it, however you can use a concealed weapons permit points to certain populations will be allowed to vote and others will not. this is a very good decision. we only have 12.8 million voters. 2.4 million voters don't have a picture i.d. and don't have ways of getting it. some don't have marriage licenses . this is a right decision.
>> some of the numbers the, hispanic voters are 4550% more likely to not have driver's license. keith is from greg county texas . he's a republican chairman. he said that this is playing the race card . he says all of this, once again, i'm sorry so say, people playing the race card . it's time for that to end. i'm tired of the democratic party playing the race card and calling the republicans racist when they are the ones playing the race card . are you and the democrats in the state of texas playing the race card ?
>> the department of justice represents the entire united states of america whether it was department of justice under president bush or president reagan or president clinton . they have an obligation to follow the law. that's what they did. let me explain that i have ever represent for difference of opinion. our own attorney general in the state of texas indicated in the last decade they only prosecuted and were able to prosecute 50 cases in the last decade. that's five cases per year.
>> do you take offense? does that particularly bother you?
>> it bothers me because of the lack of understanding. i don't waste time on people's opinion, but it bothers me because people will be denied the right to vote because of misunderstanding and mischaracterization. i'm enthusiastic about the department of justice decision and enthusiastic that they will pursue this in court. this gentleman will find out it's not race question when he sees millions and thousands upon thousands be denied the right to vote. we have a presidential election . i don't care whether the voters go out and vote republican or democratic or independent. i want them to be able to vote and there's no evidence that people show up and try to impersonate another voter. this is wrong headed, misdirected. i hope we will pursue this and i hope the supreme court will look in a fair manner at the number who is will be impacted. let me say this, the state did not send in numbers regarding african-americans. they didn't send in numbers regarding asian or seniors or home bound or disable persons who may lack opportunities to get a picture voter i.d. this is not a joke and this is not race based except for the fact that the voting rights act says no barrier should bar a citizen of the united states from voting regardless of race or ethnicity. it's the right decision to make.
>> thank you for your time. obviously, this is not going anywhere any time soon. thank
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46721851/
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