Fearing the will of the people.

The measure supported by Angle’s political action committee, Our Vote Nevada, would require voters to have photo identification to cast a ballot. It also would require election officials to issue free cards to anyone who does not have valid photo identification issued by a government entity.

One lawsuit challenging the initiative was filed on behalf of two voters by lawyers with ties to the Democratic Party.

The other was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Some discount the possibility of voter fraud because they are shocked that someone would brazenly break the law and risk jail over an election.  We’ve heard voter fraud deniers claim that voter impersonation is a dumb way to try to steal an election and the chances of getting caught make it particularly dumb.

What these deniers do is discount the criminal mind.  Because the deniers are law abiding, they think everyone else is a rational law abiding citizen.  Evil or wrongdoing are unfamiliar behaviors. 

But here is yet another example of election fraudsters making irrational, illegal and easy to catch decisions, this time in Alameda County where a candidate filed papers with a phony address of residence.

Six years later, in 1991, I immigrated to the United States because of a brutal civil war that had roots in Doe’s ruthless intolerance of opposition. I made a home in Nashville while watching the on-off war continue another 14 years before Liberia elected Africa’s first female president in 2005.

After 21 years of sitting idle through U.S. presidential elections that brought Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to power twice and Barack Obama’s first term, I finally became a U.S. citizen shortly before the last general election. And without a vote, I watched as Nashville re-elected Phil Bredesen as mayor, followed by elections of Bill Purcell and current Mayor Karl Dean.

The people we choose, now and in local general elections in August, will help determine how we administer justice. In some way, almost every family will be touched by decisions they make regarding public safety, crime and punishment, and how our communities grow.

Early voting results in Davidson and surrounding counties were encouraging, but too many Americans take for granted the opportunity to exercise their right to vote in a democracy.

Voting matters. In some parts of the world, people die because there is no tradition of free and fair elections.

Interesting graphics and data highlighting polarization in Wisconsin.  There is a reason why Republican Governor Walker is involved in a 47-47 deadlock and the gubernatorial race is just starting.  Not many undecideds.

All Congress has to do, in other words, is get its act together and fill the gap the court tore in the law. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has been trying. In the House, F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), who oversaw the 2006 reauthorization of the act, has led the effort, helping to draft a sensible compromise. 

Link

Newsmax continues to follow the bigger pictures with story on political races at the state legislative level. Among other issues, there could be significant impact on voting laws and integrity measures. Link.  

Republicans are close to gaining more state legislative majorities this year, which will likely affect social issues and energy laws, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Most of the key issues are taking place at the state level, and you’ll continue to see a clear course of action on the Republican side,” Bill McCollum, chairman of the Republican State Leadership Committee and a former Florida congressman and attorney general, told the Journal.

The GOP only needs to gain a handful of seats to take control of five state senates, the Journal reported, and four more state legislative chambers are also being targeted. Republicans already control legislatures in 26 states and hold the governor’s office in 29 states as this year’s elections near.

“Republicans are at something of a high-water mark,” said Tim Storey, of the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, according to the Journal. “However, there are still a number of states where Republicans could flip chambers and come out even stronger than they came in.”

Elon Poll on Twitter and link here to the Executive Summary of the poll findings.  Support increased by 5% points overall since 2013, including among Blacks, despite a major offensive by left wing groups opposing the ID reforms. 

Voter Identification 

Seventy percent of registered voters support the law requiring photo identification in order to vote. This is a 5 point increase in support since November 2013. Republicans (96%) are the most supportive of the voter id law, followed by Independents (75%), then Democrats (45%). Support among Independents has increased 7 percentage points and 9 points for Democrats.  September 2013 was the first time the Elon Poll found that a majority of Democrats and African Americans oppose photo identification requirements in order to vote. Prior to that time a majority of both Democrats and African Americans supported the voter ID law. The April 2014 poll found a majority of both groups still oppose the law, but support seems to have grown for both Democrats and blacks.

Elon Poll in North Carolina.  Support is increasing despite a rapid onslaught on the law.