In the Novato Patch.

“Long-time resident Fred Muse protected protesters in the woods at night and on the road during five-day historic march.”

The price of a vote may have been $5 in Suttle, Nebraska.

Here.

“The best we can hope for is that lawmakers in Madison come up with a plan that’s fair for everyone.

But African-American voters in Milwaukee shouldn’t wait to see how it plays out, but rush to educate the community about what’s coming down the road. For years, some black males in Milwaukee have told me they don’t vote because they fear being caught up in the system for things like back child support payments, outstanding warrants or even traffic violations.

None of that is supposed to keep a person from voting, but it’s still the perception of many. That has to change.

With the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday on Monday, it’s a good time to remember when blacks were routinely denied the right to vote and vow to do whatever we can to keep it from happening again.

How many bubbles in a bar of soap, indeed.”

Visalia Times-Delta.   A California editorial notes: 

“For starters, the population of Tulare County is now at least 58 percent Hispanic, and by the time the census tract numbers are revealed, that percentage could be higher. In 2000, the percentage of Hispanic residents was 51 percent.  In 2001, the county was under great pressure to make sure that at least one district was a ‘minority majority.’ With several supervisor districts having a majority of Hispanics, that pressure isn’t as strong now.”

An Examiner  posting on the redistricting process in New Jersey and the first meeting of the Legislative Apportionment Commission.

At Pajamas Media.

You often hear in the voter ID debate, “you need an ID to cash a check” or “buy alcohol” or “fly on a plane” or “rent a room” or “go to Costco” or “check out a book”, etc.

The North Star State comes up with a new one in this KARE-TV story:

“In St. Paul you now need an ID card to drop off your compost.”

Denver Daily News has more.

A judge has refused to delay the elections under the current system in Compton (CA).  Hispanic plaintiffs are challenging Compton’s at large elections for city council.  The LA Times has more.

“The plaintiffs contend that the city’s at-large elections to choose a representative for each of Compton’s four districts weaken Latinos’ voting power, and they are pushing for district-restricted voting.  Such a change could give a Latino candidate a greater chance of winning a council seat, the plaintiffs argue. Over the last two decades Compton’s population has shifted from predominantly African American to about two-thirds Latino, though blacks still constitute the majority of registered voters. No Latino candidate has ever been elected to the City Council or any other city office.  ‘What we have here is a complete absence historically of Latino representation,’ Avila told the court Tuesday.”

 

Stateline editorial.

“Perhaps the biggest wildcard facing GOP plans for Texas and many other Southern states is that the Obama administration must approve their new maps, both for congressional and state legislative districts.”

If the DOJ is truly an obstacle, as so many editorials have claimed, then the solution is simple: go straight to United States District Court in DC and go around the obstacle.  The Rules of Civil Procedure will provide certainty.  The judge will provide a neutral decisionmaker.  It will be faster and in the end may cost less.