This is pretty unexpected stuff coming from President Carter’s former pollster Pat Caddell.  (Drudge has a link to the story also).  Regardless of whether or not America is indeed in a “pre-revolutionary” state of mind, one thing is for sure when only 17 percent of Americans believe the government is operating with the consent of the governed, it doubles the need to have elections which are free, fair and trusted.  It means election laws must ensure that people believe the outcome of elections represent the will of the majority of voters.  It means systems to ensure election integrity don’t face reactionary opposition.  It means that more people need to believe their votes count, no matter who ends up winning.  Seventeen percent is a staggeringly low number.  More people probably believe Elvis is still alive.

Grimes, Johnson Spar Over Homeless Voters Issue at Fancy Farm

This is one where Kentucky Secretary of State nominee Bill Johnson has it dead wrong.  Homeless people are as entitled to vote as he is.  The solution proposed by Kentucky (putting the homeless in the precinct where the county clerk is) seems perfectly reasonable.

Colorado is expecting to hear from the Justice Department that foreign language ballots are now required in Colorado based on the 2010 Census.  More at the Denver Post.

 Covered at Pajamas Media.

South Carolina submitted Voter ID plans to the Justice Department for approval instead of the United States District Court.  The state continues to reap the whirlwind.  The latest at Politico from the director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project and director of the ACLU Washington DC legislative office.

The State

The People’s World, the magazine associated with the Communist Party USA, opines about Voter ID here in “Unions say “voter ID” is Jim Crow revisited.”

“Robert H. Allen died nearly four years ago at the age of 81.  But the deceased Sun Prairie man appears to be living on — at least on Wisconsin’s statewide voting list. Allen is among nearly 1,000 other probable deceased individuals who remain on the Statewide Voter Registration System, or SVRS, according to a Wisconsin Reporter investigation.”  More at Watchdog.org.

Block Island: 888 residents according to the U.S. Census.

Block Island voter registrations: 1,423.

More at the Providence Journal.

excerpts from article: 

He said forming new legislative maps for Pinal
County as it expands from three supervisors to five will be cumbersome.
County staff and a consulting firm have been going over the new
districts to meet the U.S. Department of Justice requirements, which
Martyn said would create Democratic majorities.

“They all meet DOJ
criteria, but not common-sense criteria,” said Martyn, whose district
includes Florence, Queen Creek and Apache Junction.

The other supervisors, Pete Rios and David Snider, who represents Maricopa, are both Democrats.

Martyn
said trying to get past the “33,000 lawyers” at the Justice Department
is difficult and he is concerned the city of Casa Grande would still be
split across two districts.