Link: A federal appeals court is ordering a new look at a lawsuit over local elections in an eastern North Carolina town.

Ohio Secretary of State seeks criminal investigation.

“There was an attempt to violate the election law with the attempt to cast and count fraudulent votes,” Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said in an interview with The Tribune on Tuesday. “If we didn’t believe there were irregularities that amounted to a violation of law we would not have referred it to the attorney general and the county prosecutor.”

“Last week, State Board of Elections Executive Director Sarah Ball Johnson wrote all of the county clerks in Kentucky a memo, instructing them to approve all voter registration applications from people who are homeless — even if clerks can’t verify the addresses on the forms. The policy has been in place since 1998, but Johnson wanted to clarify it because of the number of applicants and newly elected county clerks.”  Full story at Fox 19.

North Carolina is ready to bypass only submitting a redistricting plan to DOJ and will go to court instead.  Charlotte Observer:

“But Republicans in North Carolina, like those in other states, plan to go to the courts at the same time. Rucho called the Obama Justice Department ‘probably the most politicized … of any that’s been seen in the past.’  Other states, including Virginia, have pursued the same dual strategy.

Rucho said it’s designed to ensure early approval of the new districts and prevent any delay in the 2012 elections.

Hans Von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former Justice Department lawyer, said, ‘Any Republican-controlled state would be foolish not to go to court.’

‘The idea that North Carolina is going to get a fair, unbiased review from (the Justice Department) is highly unlikely,’ he said. ‘If they’re in court, they’re going to get a fair review and Justice isn’t going to be able to play games.’

In court, he argues, both sides would get a chance to present arguments. The Justice Department could simply send the state back to the drawing board.”

Full story on Section 203 settlement here.

Latest at PJ Tatler.

States which have recently passed voter identification laws should pay close attention.  The Civil Rights industry has targeted those laws and are asking the Eric Holder Justice Department to attack them.

“Despite some very important lawsuits, agreements, and legislative actions, voting rights in Indian Country are severely limited. Indians have had to fight to win the right to vote the way GIs had to fight the Germans in France and Germany—one block at a time.”  Full article at Native Times.

Here.