Throughout his tenure, Alberto Gonzales has allowed political gamesmanship to drive the US Justice Department, an agency that has enormous power to jail people, destroy reputations, and affect the outcome of elections.

In addition to the firing of nine US attorneys and the use of warrantless wiretaps in the war on terror, Gonzales also assisted in a five-year Republican campaign to pursue restrictive voter ID laws that would disproportionately disenfranchise minority, senior, student, and disabled voters.

That legacy of voter suppression extends to North Carolina, where Republican State Auditor Les Merritt trumped up earlier this year unsubstantiated charges of voter fraud to discourage eligible voters from going to the polls.

“The North Carolina Democratic Party is pleased that the Bush Administration’s exit strategy includes the resignation of Alberto Gonzales,” said NCDP Chair Jerry Meek. “But while we’re throwing out the bad apples and restoring integrity to the electoral process, Mr. Les Merritt should be the next to go.”