Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner at the Hill.

I don’t share Sensenbrenner’s concern that litigation will increase after Shelby.  Good.  A neutral and detached magistrate will weigh evidence and the DOJ will be forced to carry a burden in open court.  Compare that with the behind closed doors mischief that has infected the Section 5 reviews in the past. 

 Link.

Nate Cohn, writing in the liberal New Republic, notes, “Many of the registered voters without a photo ID just aren’t voting and 40 percent of them are probably voting Republican.” Voter ID laws, he declares, have “comparatively modest electoral consequences.”

link.

The Dallas News reports on the back and forth between the White House and Texas Republicans.

The White House pushed back this afternoon against allegations from Texas Republicans that the Justice Department is overreaching its authority by trying to reimpose preemptive U.S. oversight of Texas elections.

…In the last few hours, a chorus of Texas Republican officials have warned the administration not to mess with Texas. Gov. Rick Perry called the Justice Department’s plan an “end-run around the Supreme Court.” Sen. John Cornyn accused Obama of “bullying” tactics in pursuit of a partisan agenda. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is running for governor, vowed that “I’ll fight Obama’s effort to control our elections.” Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions, a member of the House GOP leadership, called Holder’s move an assault on federalism.

“The administration is once again deliberately attempting to push its political agenda by selectively targeting Texas,” Sessions said.

The Supreme Court left open the possibility that Congress can modernize the Voting Rights Act and resume federal “preclearance” in Texas and other states with a history of bias. But most analysts see little hope of lawmakers finding a consensus.

This media report lays out the election related legislation that has been passed by the North Carolina Senate as the session nears conclusion.

It would:

• Cut early voting by a week.

• End same-day registration.

• Eliminate straight party ticket voting.

• Add restrictions to provisional voting, which is allowed when there are questions about registration.

• Require voters present a government ID. Student identification would not be allowed.

• End the ability of teenagers to register before they are 18.

• Repeal publicly funded elections for judicial races and increase the maximum individual campaign contribution from $4,000 to $5,000.

• End the requirement that candidates endorse their political ads.

• Require a second, but earlier, primary in presidential elections.

Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University, said requiring identification for voters has been popular in North Carolina, and the state is one of just 15 allowing straight-party tickets.

Some senators said they were concerned about ending straight party tickets because black voters are more likely to chose that method.

Public attitudes about race relations have plummeted since the historic election of President Barack Obama, according to a new poll from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal.  Only 52 percent of whites and 38 percent of blacks have a favorable opinion of race relations in the country, according to the poll, which has tracked race relations since 1994 and was conducted in mid-July by Hart Research Associations and Public Opinion Strategies.

That’s a sharp drop from the beginning of Obama’s first term, when 79 percent of whites and 63 percent of blacks held a favorable view of American race relations.   Daily Caller

 Link is here to DOJ’s effort to drag Texas under preclearance coverage.

 PJ Media has the story, and Governor Perry’s response.

Perez had some interesting things to say at the DOJ Voting Section recently.  Stay tuned for the transcript of his talk, and more.