Full story here.

Canada seems to have a very different way to protect military voters. They take the election to them, even in far off combat zones.  “To ensure they can [vote], five two-person teams were slated to fly by military transport to the various strong points and forward operating bases, said Maj. Kash Bagal, senior deputy returning officer. Voting booths were being set up in mess halls and other convenient locations, where soldiers could cast ballots.”
 
With a hat tip to an officer who sends this story.  This is not the first time I have received email from uniformed servicemembers complaining about the way they must cast ballots.  This one notes that even Harry Truman complained about the system. The officer notes “ENOUGH.  If we can have a navy or army band and choir, we can have a voting facilitation team.” 

Whenever ideas like this are floated, one can usually guess someone’s reaction based on where they work.  The public overwhelmingly tends to respond positively, as if this is a common sense solution.  The bureaucracy doesn’t.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sunday:  “Christopher Coates was chief of the Voting Section in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. He testified that the Obama Justice Department does not prosecute violations of the Voting Rights Act if the victims are white.”

Alamagordo News: “‘Alot of the things that are happening in the office, like voter registration, we believe and have seen an agreement between the secretary of state and the Motor Vehicle Division to make sure voter registration is verified and accurate,’ Duran said. ‘It’s been in place since 2006. It has never been used to verify voter registration. We said we’re going to do our job and use that agreement. We’re going to work with MVD to verify all our 1.6 million registered voters with (MVD’s) database. We’ve turned over a number of affidavits and verification to the state police. We understand the state police are working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to verify foreign nationals. Either they’re legally registered voters or they’re not.'”

This blog has covered the efforts to preserve Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act by rushing as many bailouts through the system as possible.  The Heritage Foundation has this expansive paper on the bailout rush, called: The Bailout Bait and Switch: DOJ’s Last-Ditch Attempt to Rescue Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act

John Fund, Wall Street Journal:

“Fewer than half of states exchange updates on voter registration with other states, and many never sufficiently check the accuracy of registration information. Most registration lists are inadequately transparent—they aren’t easily searchable and are clogged with ineligible or duplicate voters. Fewer than half the states require some form of post-election audit or manual recount.”

Plans by the Village of Port Chester to file an appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals hit a bump.  The district court judge questioned how Port Chester could appeal a consent decree in this voting rights case.

This NOLA.com article discusses redistricting in Louisiana.  It also states the state intends to submit plans to the Department of Justice for approval.  It offers the foreboding prospect:

“Chaisson and House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, said they hope to submit their chambers’ respective plans to the Justice Deparment [SIC] in the coming weeks. Attorney General Buddy Caldwell will be responsible for submitting the congressional map. Justice lawyers typically have up to 60 days from receipt to make a decision. If they reject the plan, they will return to the Legislature with their reasons, giving lawmakers another chance.”

Thats a possible 120 days, or more.  By then Louisiana could have gotten some clarity from a federal court.  It doesn’t seem to make much sense to submit these plans to DOJ with all of the lurking issues involving natural retrogression and a fully Republican redistricting process.  In fact, if there was ever a state to go straight to U.S.D.C., this would seem to be it. 

The latest in the Washington Examiner.

“But more controversial is HB 2067’s requirement that everyone must present proof of citizenship when registering to vote. That’s a requirement only Georgia and Arizona have previously implemented.

Registration by noncitizens, both legal and illegal, is a problem all over the country. The Colorado secretary of state recently testified before a House congressional committee that a routine check had found thousands of registered voters in the state who may not be citizens.

Arizona passed such a registration requirement by referendum in 2004. Georgia passed a similar requirement but had to sue the Justice Department to get approval under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.”

Politico.