…the gifts made on behalf of Edwards by his campaign contributors to keep
this potential scandal quiet were intended to help him stay in the 2008
presidential race as a viable candidate. They would not have been made
if not for Edwards’s status as a federal candidate, and they were linked
to a federal election. They should be considered illegal campaign
contributions under federal law and applicable FEC regulations and
advisory opinions. A jury may end up disagreeing that Edwards knew that
what he was doing was illegal, but if the government’s facts are
correct, then John Edwards should be held accountable for violating
federal law.   full story at National Review Online.

States continue to focus on cleaning up voter registration rolls:

“Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced a new partnership Friday that will help reduce the potential for voter fraud.  Husted’s office will work with the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems to get access to out-of-state death records monthly” from more than 20 states, then purge voters who died out of state from Ohio’s registration rolls. 

“About 20 additional states are expected to join, with the aim of all 50 states eventually participating.”  More here.

Virginia’s NBC12 reports, “In fact, while the Virginia bill tightened the requirements at the polls, it actually expanded what you could show to prove your identity.  Currently a Virginia Voter ID card, a driver’s license, Social Security card, government-issued ID or a photo ID from your place of employment are all accepted. The new law would also allow utility bills, paychecks, bank statements, government checks or a current Virginia college ID.  In an effort to make sure everyone who wants to vote can, McDonnell is issuing an Executive Order requiring the Board of Elections to send new voter ID cards to every single registered voter in Virginia.” 

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is leading a multi-state effort to clean up voter registration rolls and prevent double voting across state lines.  The Interstate Cross Check Project, or Kansas Project, includes a database shared with 14 other states: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee, with six more states considering joining.

Texas Attorney General Abbott’s office issued a statement on Friday’s decision:

“It’s highly likely we will take this case to the Supreme Court,” said Edward Blum, director of the Project on Fair Representation, a legal defense fund that backed the challenge in Shelby County, Ala. v. Holder. “The opinion is disappointing but not unexpected.”

Reports are that he will also issue executive orders regarding Voter ID implementation and collection of Provisional Ballot data, as well as a Voter ID outreach campaign. 

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit today filed opinions in Shelby County, Alabama v. Eric H. Holder, Jr.  In a 2-1 decision, the Court upheld that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, as reauthorized by Congress in 2006, remains “congruent and proportional,” while Senior Circuit Judge Williams dissented that “without more evidence distinguishing current conditions in the covered jurisdictions from those in the uncovered ones, § 4(b)’s coverage formula appears to be as obsolete in practice as one would expect, in a dynamic society, for markers 34-to-59 years old.”

“The Justice Department announced that it has reached an agreement with Wythe County, Va ., that will allow for the county and its three political subdivisions, the Wythe County School District and the towns of Rural Retreat and Wytheville, to bail out from their status as “covered jurisdictions” under the special provisions of the Voting Rights Act, and thereby exempt these jurisdictions from the preclearance requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.”  

 The U.S. Department of Justice typically makes sure voting laws comply with the Voting Rights Act. President Barack Obama’s administration has already shot down voter ID laws in South Carolina and Texas.  The scuttlebutt around the Capitol is that Mississippi officials may attempt to bypass the DOJ and let the federal courts decide on Mississippi’s law.  In its recent budget, lawmakers appropriated $495,000 to Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann’s office for voter ID litigation.  link

Mississippi has prudently anticipated a half million dollar down payment for the upcoming administrative and court battle with DOJ and at least a year delay of enactment of the state constitutional amendment and implementing law, all in an effort to gain preclearance from DOJ under Section 5 of the VRA.  South Carolina similarly anticipates the cost of the entire litigation will be over one million dollars as it attempts to enact its photo ID law.  The lengthy and contentious litigation with Texas has to be reaching a million dollars.  And don’t forget the dozens of intervenors that like to insert themselves into the process and drown the states in paper and discovery requests. 

Rest assured, DOJ will treat this voter ID litigation like death penalty litigation – no expense or litigation tactic is off the table.  And that is after the Supreme Court and the 9th Circuit has ruled on photo ID, upholding the law finding no burden on minorities.  DOJ has provided no deferrence given to judicial direction.  Now compare that burdensome road to Tennessee, Kansas and Rhode Island who faced no similar delay or expensive litigation battle with the Department of Justice.