One teacher in South Dakota decided to test the system to see how easy it is to commit voter fraud.  The results became a classroom lesson.  More at KDLT.com.

Eleven have been arrested for conduct during the May 2010 Patterson, New Jersey election.  The eleven arrested are accused of tampering with mail-in absentee ballots, casting ballots for people who did not request them and multiple voting.  More at NJ.Com.

Election Assistance Commissioner Gracia Hillman has resigned, effective December 10.  This means the EAC will not have a quorum and cannot pass rules involving the NVRA.

The Washington Times editorializes  on the departure of Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine.  The paper concludes that Fine should stay through the end of the investigation involving this mess:

Longtime Justice lawyer Christopher Coates testified under oath that many in the Civil Rights Division exhibit a “deep-seated opposition to the equal enforcement of the Voting Rights Act against racial minorities and for the protection of white voters who had been discriminated against.” He said Julie Fernandes, deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights, made clear at a Voting Rights Section meeting that the Obama administration wouldn’t pursue voting rights cases involving black perpetrators. At another meeting, she said the administration wouldn’t enforce part of another law that called for states to remove ineligible names – such as dead people and incarcerated felons – from voter rolls.

I’ve not posted about Restoration Weekend two weeks ago but have received a number of emails asking about it.   Indeed I received the 2010 Annie Taylor Award with a wonderful introduction by Karen Lugo.  Taylor was the first woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.  The list of previous winners itself is humbling.  I appreciated all of the kind comments from the attendees including Senator Sessions, and am thankful to Mr. Horowitz and Mr. Collier and everyone else at what was an excellent weekend.  This link discusses some aspects of Restoration Weekend and the award, including my remarks.  As I noted, I was profoundly humbled by the award and will leave it at that.

A careful Fox News study of the closest Congressional race in the country has demonstrated that voter fraud occurred there.  At times the contest has been as close as 15 votes apart.  Of the 438 absentee voters in New York’s 1st Congressional district, 48 of them have double registrations in New York City.  One absentee voter in the 1st Congressional District also voted in New York City.  This would be a federal crime.  It also shows New York has problems complying with Section 8 of the Motor Voter law.  Let’s see if Eric Holder’s Justice Department does anything about it:

“The voter in question has an extensive voting record, having cast a ballot in New York City 33 times since 1984. Records show he not only voted in a Manhattan polling place during the general election this past November, but also in the Democratic primary in September. The voter has not returned our request for comment.

The overwhelming majority of the Long Island voters, who are also on the New York City voter rolls, appear to be wealthy Manhattanites who own second-homes in the posh resort towns of East Hampton, Southampton, Montauk, Amagansett and Shelter Island. Many of them voted in Manhattan as recently as last November in New York City’s mayoral election, and in the presidential election of 2008.”

My latest at Pajamas Media: “Dems Should Seek Holder Resignation.”   Involves miltary voting, Black Panthers and Harold Koh.

Some would certainly like to see the festering mess at the Justice Department continue through 2011. But I know firsthand how the resignation of an attorney general can help rejuvenate both the DOJ and the White House.

Add this to the long list of reasons why redistricting commissions are a bad idea.  More from the press release:

My first piece at Family Security Matters is here.   It pertains to the Department of Justice not appealing a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding an immigration decision.   

The Institute for Justice will be back in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, this time in Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett.   The lawsuit, according to the IJ press release, challenges Arizona’s system of government-funded political campaigns—one of the broadest campaign finance regimes in the nation.  This program forces taxpayers to fund politicians’ campaigns and punishes not only candidates who refuse government subsidies but independent groups that support them as well.  Arizona’s program has been held out as a model by those calling for greater government restrictions on free speech in the guise of campaign finance “reforms” in local, state and federal elections.  A rather funny video describing the challenged law is here.