October 31, 2011

Former congressman repeats allegations of Black Belt voter fraud, but Bama Fact check demands evidence.

After losing the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to Ron Sparks last year, Artur Davis said he was riding off into the political sunset — or rather, to a white collar defense law firm where he could get rich. But the former congressman keeps dipping his toes back in Alabama waters, and yet another op-ed penned by Davis has some politicos wondering whether Davis still has Alabama ambitions and has others wishing he’d just go away.

Last week, Davis wrote in the Montgomery Advertiser that he regretted his opposition to Voter ID, pushed by Republicans. His decision was a knee-jerk reflex for a black politician, he said, and he’d vote differently if he had it to do over again.

“Without any evidence to back it up, I lapsed into the rhetoric of various partisans and activists who contend that requiring photo identification to vote is a suppression tactic aimed at thwarting black voter participation,” Davis wrote. “The truth is that the most aggressive contemporary voter suppression in the African American community, at least in Alabama, is the wholesale manufacture of ballots, at the polls and absentee, in parts of the Black Belt.”

But not so fast, said Bama Fact Check, the state’s version of Politifact. For decades there has been lots of anecdotal evidence and blanket accusations of voter fraud, but Justice Department investigations, particularly in the Black Belt, have failed to reveal the massive abuse that supposedly exists. Alabama Secretary of State Beth Champman has implored anyone with knowledge of voter fraud to step forward, but she’s had few, if any, takers. Without hard evidence, allegations of voter fraud are not much more substantial than an urban myth. If politicians have such evidence, they should name names, Bama Fact Check said.

“If the former congressman’s accusations are true, you can add Artur Davis to the list of people who know about voter fraud, but are reluctant to talk specifics,” the watchdog organization said.

Bama Fact Check gave Davis’ voter fraud claims two out of five stars for truthfulness.