DOJ Responds On N.M. Voter Intimidation Claims

Last week, TPMmuckraker and others reported on an apparent voter intimidation effort launched by a lawyer tied to the New Mexico Republican Party — which included hiring a private investigator to show up at the homes of Hispanics and question them about their right to vote.

On Friday, hours after our story appeared, Gerry Hebert — a former top voting-rights official at the Department of Justice, who now runs the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center (and is a frequent TPMmuckraker source) — forwarded the story, via email, to four current members of DOJ’s civil-rights division, which enforces voting laws.

Hebert, who served 21 years at DOJ’s civil-rights division, including a stint as acting head of the voting-rights section, wrote in his email, which was copied to TPMmuckraker*: “I believe this conduct, if true, violates both the criminal and civil statutes your offices enforce, and thus warrants investigation by DOJ.” He asked the four recipients to acknowledge receipt of his email.

But this afternoon, five days later, Hebert told TPMmuckraker that he had received no response whatsoever.

The four officials to whom Hebert addressed his message were:
–Mark Kappelhoff, chief of the division’s criminal section.
–Mark Blumberg, a deputy chief of the same section.
–Christopher Coates, chief of the division’s voting-rights section.
–James Walsh, an attorney in the division.

Kappelhoff, Blumberg, and Walsh did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Department staff declined to connect TPMmuckraker to Coates directly.

The apparent lack of followup contrasts with DOJ’s apparent quick action in launching an investigation into ACORN in connection with voter-fraud, according to an Associated Press report — attributed to anonymous sources and as yet unconfirmed — from earlier this month.

Hebert and several other voting experts told TPMmuckraker last week that the activities laid out in our report potentially constitute a violation of federal voting laws.

The ACLU and Project Vote on Monday filed suit against the New Mexico GOP, alleging voter intimidation. The same day, MALDEF, a group that advocates for the rights of Hispanics, filed a similar but separate suit, which names as defendants the GOP lawyer Pat Rogers and the private investigator Al Romero.

Kappelhoff and Walsh, at least, would appear to be unlikely participants in a DOJ scheme to stonewall legitimate voter intimidation complaints. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that both have contributed to Barack Obama’s campaign.

Late Update: Scot Montrey, a spokesman for DOJ’s civil-rights division, called TPMmuckraker to say: “The department is aware of the allegations and we’re looking into them.”

* This sentence has been corrected from an earlier version.