Here.  “This warning from the attorney general is ill-conceived, ill-timed, and I think a terrible mistake,” says diGenova, a prominent Republican commentator.

“At a time when we’re trying to do everything we can to identify who is in the country, why they are in the country, and what they are doing, it is so fundamentally simple to want to assure ourselves that the people who are voting in elections are citizens and have the right to vote,” diGenova says.

and: DiGenova says Holder has been injecting himself into the political process, raising questions about the impartiality of the Justice Department.

“The department is known historically for being above the fray and enforcing the law,” diGenova says. “I think it [Holder’s statement about law requiring photo ID] looks political, which is very bad for the attorney general particularly in light of everything that is going on around him,” diGenova notes, referring to Holder’s conflicting statements about when he knew about the Fast and Furious operation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

“It creates a patina of political interference,” diGenova says. “It makes it appear that their cases may be politically motivated.”

DiGenova says Holder is accusing states of misconduct simply because they want “to ensure that the votes that are going to occur are not going to be fraudulent.” DiGenova calls his position “absolutely absurd.”

“This is about states wanting to ensure that the people who show up at the ballot box live in the district, are American citizens, and have the right to vote and that they haven’t voted someplace else on the same day,” diGenova says.

I will be on 96.9 Boston Talks with Michael Graham today at 5:30 to talk about Fast and Furious and more.  I will also be on NRA News radio sometime today after 6pm.

The Justice Department has started calling state election officials across the country asking them to provide DOJ their “UOCAVA” plans.  That means the DOJ wants the states to self-report information to Justice which will then be analyzed in Washington for possible violations of federal law.

Adryana Boyne of VOCES Action offers a defense of Voter ID in Spanish (link here):

Estimados ciudadanos de habla hispana. La comunidad de los Estados Unidos siempre habla de la honestidad y de la integridad como valores importante para su gente. Sin embargo a el Procurador General o Secretario de Justicia de los Estados Unidos Eric Holder eso le tiene sin cuidado. Será acaso para desviar la atención de sus malos manejos en situaciones como la de “Rápido y furioso”? Será que está haciendo campaña para el Presiente Obama? Ahora quiere intervenir en anular una legislación que es apropiada y buena para nuestro estado?

Texas Sen. John Cornyn sent a clear message to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder this afternoon: Don’t mess with Texas’ voter identification law. “Voter identification laws are constitutional and necessary to prevent fraud at the ballot box,” Cornyn said

Holder’s highly partisan speech to rally support for DOJ’s upcoming objections to photo ID laws may be picking a fight that he ultimately loses.  The chief law enforcement officer in the country is inserting himself into a political issue in which the Supreme Court has already provided strong legal direction.

Holder calculated the timing of this speech and objections in Texas and South Carolina to be early enough in the campaign to rally the troops, yet late enough in the elections process that the Supreme Court may not have a chance to smack down his runaway Department until after he and President Obama have already packed up their offices in 2013. 

Apparently, this is part of the national conversation on race. 

The full story is here.

An interesting bit of information came from the latest round of resignations from the EAC.  In a surprise nail in the coffin, the current general counsel and acting executive director at the EAC was nominated by the Obama Administration to serve with another agency.  Despite the desperate rhetoric of Democrats to save the EAC Zombie Land, the Administration has just dramatically undercut the already small chances of survival for the agency.  

This is almost as ironic as the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) undercuting the EAC by lobbying for the transfer of the collection of military voting data from the states from the EAC to the DOD.

While the Republicans have certainly led the way in terminating the EAC and finding cost savings by incorporating many of the EAC duties into the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Obama Administration may have just shouldered equal responsibility for the action. At a minimum, Obama failed to consult with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and leading congressional Democrats who recently incorporated the “termination of the EAC” as part of their voter suppression mantra.   

With this action, how could the White House veto any bill terminating the EAC when they have just become directly complicit in its termination.  This really should be of no surprise considering the Administration has been no fan of the public financing of presidential campaigns.  For the Obamites, this was an easy one.

An Orlando Sentinel article on Florida House redistricting. Here.

All five of the draft districts for the 120-member House would create a Hispanic-majority district in the Kissimmee area and another centered around the Palm Beach County city of Palm Springs. And four of the five plans would draw a district at least 40-percent black around the city of Eatonville.

Unlike the Senate – which Tuesday advanced single congressional and Senate-district maps unveiled last week — the House opted to float essentially a buffet menu of options. And while a quick analysis indicated they would make some Republican-leaning seats safer, they’d also likely elect a few more Democrats.

I will be on with Stu Taylor all over Massachusetts in minutes.  11:35 a.m.

@ the link, Representative Barton discusses the fact that the federal panel described as a runaway court by the dissent drew his Arlington home out of his district and placed him in Dallas County with new constituents making up over 50% of his new district electorate.

“At some point, I think the Supreme Court will fix it,” Barton said. The judges at the appellate level, he said, “went way beyond their authority and drew a political map.”

“The judges just decided they were the Texas Legislature,” he said.

The interim map adds much of Hispanic-dominated southwest Dallas County to Barton’s district, making it majority-minority. But Barton said that the number of likely voters would benefit him — or any other Republican. 

Local media reports that Wisconsin election officials are holding explainer sessions on the new photo identification requirements. 

A lot has changed and — like it or not — voters need to be ready for the spring and fall elections. That was Wisconsin Government Accountability Board election specialist Steve Pickett’s message during an informational voter ID session with Fox Valley residents this week, one of many sessions board specialists will hold across the state between now and the elections.

The full story at the link.