The Michigan Department of Civil Rights welcomes the decision Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) rejecting the proposed closure of the Secretary of State branch office in Buena Vista Township as a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

In a letter to Michigan Secretary of State officials, Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General, said closing the Saginaw area branch office would have a "retrogressive effect on minority electoral participation," and would be a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Section 5 of the Act requires that US Attorney General "preclear" all proposed voting changes within any covered jurisdiction. Buena Vista Twp. is one of two Michigan communities coverd by the Act.

The MDCR along with many other Michigan based civil rights organizations filed statements opposing the closing of the urbanly located Buena Vista office and requiring residents to use more distant and more suburban locations because it would have a disproportionate impact on minority voting rights. Buena Vista Township has a population which is more than 55 percent African American and almost 10 percent Latino.

It also has a large elderly population which would have been put at a disadvantage by the planned shutdown. In her letter Becker noted that closing the branch office would have required citizens using public transportation to travel for up to ninety-minutes simply to register to vote.

It was for those reasons among others, that the DOJ objected to the closure of the Buena Vista Office. MDCR Director Linda V. Parker, praised the DOJ decision calling it well reasoned.

Parker believes Secretary of State Terry Lynn Land should now withdraw the plan and focus her energy and department's resources on ensuring that the voting rights of all Michigan citizens are protected - not hindered.

"With the first Presidential election of the 21st century now upon us, all responsible leaders must make every effort to ensure that our most sacred democratic right; the right to vote, be not only protected, but also encouraged," she said.

Parker however, was critical of the DOJ's failure to also challenge the Secretary's rules governing Michigan's new photo ID voting requirement. "We do not believe these rules should have been adopted without any opportunity for public input. We also believe the Secretary should be called upon to explain why, among other things, she has deemed that a photo identification card issued by another state will be sufficient to vote in Michigan, but a current union or employee photo identification card will not."

Noting that the DOJ's decision to grant clearance to the photo ID change is explicitly tied to the Secretary of State's promise of "effective education of poll workers and voters as to the new procedures," Parker said MDCR calls upon the Secretary to keep that promise.

In particular Parker said, MDCR calls upon her to ensure that every voter in Michigan understands that if they don't have ID with them when they go to the polls they need only sign an affidavit in order to vote.

"And no vote can be challenged because the voter lacks ID," she said.