RUSH: There’s a big Supreme Court decision today, too, and this is really, really big and I want to pass this on to you. It’s funny to read the AP version of this: ‘The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights, validating Republican-inspired voter ID laws. In a splintered 6-3 ruling–‘ there’s nothing splintered about this. The lead opinion was written by John Paul Stevens. He’s a huge liberal on this court. He joined in with the majority here, 6-3 in favor. ‘–the court upheld Indiana’s strict photo ID requirement, which Democrats and civil rights groups said would deter poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots. Its backers said it was needed to prevent fraud.’ It’s exactly what it will do. It will mean that anti-voter fraud efforts this fall will be easier.
I had an e-mail exchange back and forth with John Fund today at the Wall Street Journal, who has been following this story, and there’s another element here. The Democrat Senate, which has, in this instance, being led by Barack Obama, has shut down the Federal Election Commission, preventing them from taking any enforcement action because they’re short a member. There hasn’t been any action on replacing the member who is absent. There’s vacancy at the FEC, and the sole reason for that is one of Bush’s appointees had supported voter ID laws once and so he was not allowed to be seated. That excuse is now blown out of the water. The Democrats shut down the FEC largely to be able to get away with more voter fraud. They’re raising a lot more money than Republicans are, and when you’re raising a lot more money than you usually do the odds are that there are some shenanigans going on, but now there’s not an FEC to oversee any of this, but the unambiguous decision from the Supreme Court today with even liberal John Paul Stephens joining in, will mean that anti-voter fraud efforts this fall will be easier.
So the state of Indiana can go ahead and have voter ID, photo ID for voter registration and for actual voting as well without violating anybody’s constitutional rights. This is a huge, huge, huge move forward. It will undercut the Democrats’ effort to get away with fraud in this election by having an inactive FEC. Here is what John Paul Stevens said in his opinion. ‘The law ‘is amply justified by the valid interest in protecting ‘the integrity and reliability of the electoral process,” Justice John Paul Stevens said in an opinion that was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy,’ the so-called moderate swing vote. Also justices Alito, Scalia, and Clarence Thomas agreed with the outcome. They, however, filed their own opinions. Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented. They are the three in the minority. ‘More than 20 states require some form of identification at the polls. Courts have upheld voter ID laws in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, but struck down Missouri’s. Monday’s decision comes a week before Indiana’s presidential primary.’ So big news from the Supreme Court today, a common sense ruling, so common-sensical that even John Paul Stevens, one of the most liberal members of the court joined the majority here.