At the link.  The Republicans had their first opportunity in decades to draw the district lines during this dicennial redistricting.  Despite an outcry of “intentional packing” and resegregation by the trifecta of media, interest groups and Democrats, North Carolina received prompt administrative clearance from DOJ for its new maps.  Even the Obama DOJ couldn’t find a reason to object to a plan that included the creation of multiple new majority minority seats.  What has to frustrate North Carolina Democrats the most is that they are no longer able to illegally racially gerrymander to retain artificial control of the levers of government.  

North Carolina has had a checkered history of redistricting. Since 1981, the Justice Department has rejected plans eight times. Legal challenges delayed N.C. elections in 1998 and 2002. North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District was the subject of four decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Make no mistake about it, this Republican redistricting plan will re-segregate North Carolina,” state Democratic Party Chairman David Parker said in a release after the preclearance, adding that “the shapes of the resulting districts make a mockery of the redistricting process and the Republicans should be ashamed of themselves.”

At the link, the Secretary of the Commonwealth in Pennsylvania opines on voter photograph identification:

“There is nothing more important to our form of government than voting,
and nothing more important to voting than preserving the integrity of
every vote. Requiring photo ID will accomplish that.”

At the link.  The political parties and Latino interest groups proposed their new plans to the Court who will draw the final lines.

Here

At the link, two statewide Democrat politicians in Kentucky are working to ensure the upcoming elections are free of fraud. 

Attorney General Jack Conway, Secretary of State Elaine Walker and
their staffs have been working closely to ensure that the November 8
general election is fair and free of voter fraud.

Representatives from both agencies have been meeting in recent weeks
as part of the Kentucky Election Integrity Task Force to prevent and
investigate allegations of vote fraud during the general election.
Kentucky State Police, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern and
Western Districts of Kentucky and Kentucky Board of Elections are also
represented on the task force.

“I am proud of the work my office has done to crack down on
corruption and ensure that all voters have a chance to legally cast
their vote on election day,” said Conway. “Investigators from my office
will be patrolling precincts and polling places on election day, but we
also need citizens to join in the effort by reporting any election
irregularities.”

Arizona Senator Steve Gallardo asks Voting Section Chief Chris Herren to have the Department of Justice draw legislative districts in Arizona.  See the story and letter here.  Gallardo’s letter fails to cite any statutory authority that gives the Department of Justice the power to draw districts for Arizona.  No matter.  The land of make believe imposes no such restraint.

The NewsObserver reports that the U.S. Justice Department could decide as early as today whether to approve North Carolina’s new Republican-drawn voting districts or send them back for changes.  If they’re approved, Democrats and a handful of independent groups are poised to challenge the districts in court. A prolonged court fight could delay N.C. elections in 2012, just as similar challenges did in 1998 and 2002. Previous challenges have resulted in redrawings.  Republicans are confident the Justice Department will approve, or “pre-clear,” their new congressional and legislative voting districts.

Link here.  A Republican negotiator says a deal is getting close on an alternative map of new congressional districts for the state. Former state GOP chairman Bob Bennett tells The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer the Ohio House could vote on a different map as early as tomorrow.  Republican House Speaker William Batchelder asked Bennett to work with black House Democrats to find a compromise.

New district lines drawn by Republicans and passed by lawmakers in September have been thrown into limbo as Democrats gather signatures in hopes of putting the map before voters next year for possible repeal.  Bennett says the GOP wants an alternative map to maintain the original’s 12 Republican-leaning districts and four Democratic districts. But he says his party is willing to make some concessions.

Some call it an unholy alliance, others call it a compromise.  It appears to have avoided a train wreck. 

At the link, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security announced Monday that as of Oct. 24, it had issued 2,385 forms of photo identification for voting purposes since a new law went into effect making on July 1 photo IDs for voting purposes available at no charge

You gotta hand it to South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian, he calls them as he sees them.  Tabella has this post at ELC highlighting Harpootlian’s comments.

“The view in Washington and the Justice Department is the South has not progressed in race relations in the last 40 years,” Harpootlian said. “They’ve got a bunch of 1960s liberals still working in the Justice Department.”

Dick Harpootlian was the county solicitor in the county where I went to law school a couple of decades ago.  He is a top flight trial lawyer and true blue Democrat.  Dick, happy to send you a copy of my book Injustice which deals with this very topic.  Or you can get a free chapter at Injusticeinthedoj.com. 

My only quibble with Harpootlian’s conclusion is that I WISH there were 1960’s liberals working in the voting section.  As I write in Injustice:

The division provides a welcoming home for purveyors of fringe beliefs that are alien and repugnant to mainstream America—namely, that civil rights laws do not protect everyone equally, but only certain “oppressed” minorities. Not everyone who works there subscribes to these views, but nearly everyone who manages the place now does. As a result, the Civil Rights Division has squandered its moral authority. Having initially been infused with the spirit of the original civil rights movement and its emphasis on racial equality and color-blindness, the division is now home to the rotted industry of racial grievance.

At least 1960’s liberals would probably be preferable because they believed in race neutral enforcement of the law, but I think we get your point.