NAACP Legal Defense Fund report finds Trump AG pick Pam Bondi ‘undermined’ voting rights

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.

Following Trump’s 2020 presidential loss, Bondi backed claims that Trump won the election. She represented Julie Adams, a member of the Fulton County Board of Elections, and argued that Adams had the right to decertify the election based on the “mere suspicion of voter fraud.”

Then, as chair of the AFPI's Center for Litigation, the group filed a lawsuit challenging President Biden's authority to protect ballot access for Black voters, voters of color and other eligible voters who received any language assistance needed to cast a ballot.

“Ms. Bondi's record of actively seeking to limit voting rights, coupled with her attempts to undermine the integrity of our elections by supporting President-Elect Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen, should raise grave concerns among Senators who will be tasked with considering her nomination,” the report states.

The report goes on to dissect Bondi’s stance on diversity, equity and inclusion, an increasingly politicized topic that has legislators and companies alike trying to disband all programs promoting such policies.

Bondi, the report said, has endorsed a “radical, so-called 'colorblind' view of the law,” pointing to AFPI applauding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw race conscious admission in schools

“As Attorney General, Ms. Bondi would be positioned to impose her colorblind vision of the law by declining to defend federal programs that seek to remedy past and ongoing discrimination,” the report says.

The report concludes by saying Bondi is “wholly unfit to lead the Justice Department and poses a threat to the independence and integrity of this critical agency.”

The Legal Defense Fund is calling on senators to reject her nomination.

The Hill has reached out to Bondi for comment.

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