Link here to watch live starting at 2pm EDT.  The forum is sponsored by Judicial Watch and includes John Fund and Catherine Englebrecht.

AJC analyzes a draft map from source and provides some tidbits for a special session that starts August 15:

In the 12th District, U.S. Rep. John Barrow, the last white Democrat from the Deep South, would be pushed out of his residence in Savannah. Previously, Republicans targeted him by forcing Barrow to move from his original base in Athens. Under this map, Augusta would become Barrow’s third home. If he survives a 2012 vote

In the 2nd District, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, would be strengthened by moving into the Bibb County area – a Democratic-leaning region might have served as a base for a challenge to Austin Scott.

U.S. Rep. John Lewis’s 5th District would be pushed deep into DeKalb County, nearly to Dunwoody, and U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson’s 4th District, which has been dominated by DeKalb, would move further east into Rockdale and Newton counties, whose African-American populations have exploded.

The article continues: “One Capitol voice we talked to, who is familiar with the map and is close to the redistricting process, said it largely reflects current thought among Republicans — especially when it comes to south Georgia. But expect some tweaking, especially in metro Atlanta. As drawn, the lines for the 7th District, now occupied by Republican Rob Woodall, wouldn’t hold up over 10 years. Population shifts would nearly guarantee that the district would wind up in Democratic hands by 2021.”

More at News 10.

Public News Service out of Texas reports:

Texas’ redistricting plan, which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry this week, requires federal clearance before it can be implemented. Attorney General Greg Abbott asked a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., for that approval Tuesday. It’s the first time Texas has opted for the courts rather than the Department of Justice to review new political maps for congressional, legislative, and State Board of Education districts. The state is allowed to choose between administrative and court venues to hear arguments that its plan complies with provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act that guarantee adequate minority representation.

Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project, a progressive research organization, says the state’s decision to bypass the administrative option is politically strategic.

And Michael Graham responds at the Boston Herald:  

You want to know who loved mandatory voting? The late Saddam Hussein. He got 100 percent of the vote from the 11,445,638 eligible voters in 2002. Voting mandates are the tactic of a bullying, overbearing government. Which may explain why some liberal politician brings the idea back up every few years.

The left loves mandates. They love the idea of the government ordering you to vote, forcing you to buy government-approved health insurance, making you buy lousy CFL light bulbs and demanding that you stop smoking in your own car.

The left knows what you ought to be doing, whether you know it or not. So charging you your own money and using it to coerce you into doing what they say is, for a liberal, like achieving nirvana.

Florida Republicans have resurrected Jim Crow, so states Karl Sheppard, an adjunct professor of history at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida

“The real issue however is the suppression of black votes. The limits on voter registration (the signatures collected by those registering to vote in Florida must now be turned in within 48 hours) greatly impacts the ability to sign up new voters and is aimed directly at poor minorities and college students.”

The law in Florida which Sheppard opposes is currently before the Justice Department for approval.  It limits the amount of time groups like ACORN can sit on voter registration forms before they must be turned in to election officials so that the voter can be registered.  It is designed to protect the voter. In the past many of these forms were never turned in and the voters, or people who thought they were eligible to vote, turned up on election day and could not vote.  Limiting the amount of time groups can sit on them could make it more likely that the voter will be registered, or can check well in advance of the election if they are.  To Professor Sheppard, this is Jim Crow resurrected. 

Clipped from BigGovernment.com:

Their first step was to gather data. And what better place to find all those “disenfranchised voters” than at a food pantry?

On Friday June 24, Director of Advocacy at the Hunger Task Force Jon Janowski sent an email out to the leaders of over 80 food pantries in Wisconsin to inform them of “a survey project that Hunger Task Force is working on with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).”

The email states:

The ACLU is surveying people all over Wisconsin to assess the impact of Wisconsin’s new voter ID law, and they want to hear from people who might be disproportionately impacted by the law’s new requirements.  We are asking your permission to allow Hunger Task Force staffer Mary Ryan and HTF intern Justice Bowers visit your program in the next month or two to conduct the attached survey.

The Washington Times today details the results of a report produced by AMVETS and the Chapman Law School and released by the Military Voting Protection Project.  It details some unfortunate statistics about military voting in 2010.  I’ve written extensively at Pajamas Media about the bungling by the administration in the 2010 elections.  Now data back it up:

“The Justice Department’s program for handling military absentee ballots suffers from major flaws, and a survey revealed low turnout among military voters in the 2010 mid-term elections, according to a report by a private group made public on Tuesday.”

Particularly disturbing:

“In some cases, the department recommended that a state prevent troops from voting. In Maryland, the Justice Department told the state to send ballots for federal elections only because ballots for local elections would have violated the 45-day deadline, the report says.  ‘They were basically telling Maryland that they could disenfranchise these voters’ rights to vote in local elections,’ Mr. von Spakovsky said.”

This issue will be discussed at a forum next week at the Heritage Foundation. 

The Tennessean reports that in proposed plans, “Rutherford and Williamson counties are expected to gain seats, and district lines could be scrambled in Davidson County under redistricting plans being considered by the state legislature’s Republican majority.

Explosive growth in Nashville’s suburbs should mean the addition of at least two more state House seats in areas of Middle Tennessee dominated by Republicans. At the same time, population shifts in Davidson County also may strengthen Republicans’ hand in the Democratic county.

The 10-year redistricting effort under way offers Republicans a chance to firm up their hold on the state legislature and Tennessee’s congressional delegation. But Republicans also run the risk of overreaching or triggering legal disputes as they take control of redistricting.”

Interesting Article 

… “several Rhode Island communities that are popular vacation destinations have significantly more registered voters than residents—raising questions about the influence of seasonal residents in state and local elections.

A comparison of the new U.S. Census records with public voter registration records revealed significant discrepancies in at least four communities in 2010.”