I don't know if this is the real crux of the story, or just a sideline, but it sounds bad. The McClatchey Newspapers Washington Bureau is reporting that one attorney's efforts to curb voter fraud were so vigorous as to threaten voting rights.

Efforts to stop `voter fraud' may have curbed legitimate voting
By Greg Gordon
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - During four years as a Justice Department civil rights lawyer, Hans von Spakovsky went so far in a crusade against voter fraud as to warn of its dangers under a pseudonym in a law journal article.

Writing as "Publius," von Spakovsky contended that every voter should be required to produce a photo-identification card and that there was "no evidence" that such restrictions burden minority voters disproportionately.

Now, amid a scandal over politicization of the Justice Department, Congress is beginning to examine allegations that von Spakovsky was a key player in a Republican campaign to hang onto power in Washington by suppressing the votes of minority voters.

"Mr. von Spakovsky was central to the administration's pursuit of strategies that had the effect of suppressing the minority vote," charged Joseph Rich, a former Justice Department voting rights chief who worked under him.

He and other former career department lawyers say that von Spakovsky steered the agency toward voting rights policies not seen before, pushing to curb minor instances of election fraud by imposing sweeping restrictions that would make it harder, not easier, for Democratic-leaning poor and minority voters to cast ballots.

The article goes on to say that research into the severity of any problem with voter fraud suggested it is not a big problem, but the final report suggested that to say that "a great deal of debate" surrounded the subject. In fact, the study said no such thing. The study also showed that voter ID laws suppress minority voter turnout, but that finding was rejected. Why even do the study?

Of course, true voting rights proponents know that the more serious issue is not with voter fraud, but with election fraud. Voter fraud occurs when individual voters cast illegitimate votes. It is hard to swing an election that way. Election fraud occurs when insiders deliberately alter the voting or tallying process. If someone is truly worried about the validity of our election process, it is the potential for election fraud that needs attention.