The Oklahoman.

And more evidence Florida made a mistake by submitting this plan to DOJ and not going to District Court.  Orlando Sentinel  I wrote more about this here.  Compare Virginia with Florida.

Back in November, this blog and other commentators began urging states to bypass DOJ and go straight to United States District Court for approval of redistricting plans:

“The lesson here is that Republican-controlled legislatures that have drawn up redistricting plans that Democrats don’t like would be foolish to submit those plans to the Civil Rights Division for administrative review.  Instead, they should go straight to the federal district court in D.C., the alternative procedure set forth in the Voting Rights Act.”

Now it seems that Georgia may be following suit  (as well as others). 

“Republican political consultant Joel McElhannon, a confidante of many GOP officials, says a consensus is building among Georgia Republicans that going to court is the best option.”

Why are other states considering bypassing DOJ preclearance and going straight to District Court?  Because a federal court overseeing the process forced the Justice Department to scrap plans for handling the controversial redistricting submissions in Louisiana.  Make no mistake, Virginia and Louisiana were handled differently by DOJ because they submitted their plans simultaneously to the federal district court.

In Maine, same day registration repealed

In Michigan, the first three sentences of The Daily Caller article says it all:

“Elections have consequences. Especially in a redistricting year. And Michigan Democrats are learning that the hard way.”

Miami Herald:

In the final weeks of the county mayoral race Hialeah firefighters are waging their own campaign — to educate residents about potential election fraud.

Teams of firefighters are knocking on doors and urging residents to take care of their absentee ballots in particular. They are handing out stamps to voters so that they can mail the ballots themselves.

“The message is protect the integrity of your vote,” said Mario Pico, the head of the Hialeah firefighters union, of the campaign.

The Hialeah firefighters launched their campaign in early June. Pico said the campaign was strictly nonpartisan and not political. The Metro-Dade Firefighters Local 1403 and Hialeah Association of Firefighters IAFF Local 1102 have endorsed Carlos Gimenez for county mayor. Gimenez was a fire chief in Miami before he was elected to the County Commission. Julio Robaina, the former Hialeah mayor, is also running for the top county job.

“Duran’s staff had been comparing the list of registered voters in New Mexico with the state Motor Vehicle Division database. About 83,000 people who have New Mexico driver’s licenses are in the foreign database, and some of them are not U.S. citizens. New Mexico is one two states that issues driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.”

More here.

The DNC Chair (literally) unleashed history to oppose policy proposals such as voter ID.  Bryan Preston at Pajamas Media:

“Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has since apologized for bringing up Jim Crow. But she still sounds like an old Mad TV sketch. Literally.”

Here is the letter that DOJ sent to Hinds County, Mississippi, asking for more information about redistricting plans.  A DOJ Voting Section attorney has been speaking with numerous people inside Hinds County and asking a variety of questions indicating this isn’t your ordinary “more information” request.  Stay tuned.

The letter has a chain of authorship TCH:RSB:JER:AMB:maf:par.  The letter effectively blocked elections from taking place under new district lines because of various statelaw filing deadlines.

Orlando Sentinel.