NAACP report finds Trump AG pick Pam Bondi 'undermined' voting rights

Source: The Hill

01/16/25 12:34 PM ET


Pam Bondi, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ), has a history of “undermining” voting rights, according to a report opposing Bondi from the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. The report highlights that Bondi’s work as Florida attorney general and as chair of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) make her “unfit” for the office of U.S. attorney general.

“Ms. Bondi has a record of limiting voting rights, baselessly undermining faith in U.S. elections, and encouraging politically motivated prosecutions as an act of vengeance,” the report states. “By contrast, DOJ has historically played a vital role in protecting the right to vote, a function that has become even more important in a post-Shelby County v. Holder era in which there has been a widespread effort across the country, particularly in the South, to limit the voting rights of Black communities and other communities of color.

DOJ has also been central to the federal government’s efforts to ensure free and fair elections and to the upholding the principle of equal justice under law.” The report details how, in her role as Florida attorney general, she served on the state clemency board, where she and other elected officials “used unfettered discretion to deny formerly incarcerated individuals the right to vote.”

Then, the report added, Bondi drafted a new rule that required Floridians to wait a minimum of five years before they could request to have their rights restored. The report argues Black voting-age Floridians were disproportionately harmed by this, with 1 in 4 being disenfranchised. Bondi continued her attempts to undermine voting rights in her work with the AFPI, the report states.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/5089582-naacp-report-trump-doj-pam-bondi/