Today, right-wing members of the House continued their assault on voting rights, as they approved H.R. 4844, the “Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006,” which requires all voters to obtain and show government-issued photo ID that proves their citizenship. Following today’s vote, People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas released the following statement:

“The House has passed a bill which is aimed at petty partisan advantage in the coming elections. It’s an effort to keep senior citizens, the poor, the disabled, students and minority voters away from the polls, disguised as a measure to counter massive voter fraud which simply does not exist. We already have harsh criminal penalties on the books to deal with this issue. H.R. 4844 is redundant and unnecessary and a poor attempt to deal with the REAL problems in our election system. Undocumented immigrants are not lining up at the polls to vote illegally, and there is no credible evidence to support this claim. This is a disingenuous attempt to fix the election process that instead primarily targets those groups likely to vote against the ruling majority party in the House and the Senate. That’s no accident. Weeks before mid-term elections that could change the balance of power in Congress, the House is continuing to pursue partisan advantage by trying to capitalize on unreasonable anti-immigrant fears. Shame on them.”