This may get interesting.  Hispanic citizens in filed a lawsuit challenging at-large elections in Compton, California.  Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is usually used by plaintiffs who are part of a national racial minority against an election law, such as at large elections, which result in an all-white or mostly all white governing body. 

Compton’s plaintiffs are challenging an all black governing body.  The case is being brought under a California version of the Voting Rights Act. 

Bismark Tribune:  “Burleigh County Sheriff’s Det. Ron Mehrer said County Auditor Kevin Glatt reported two men may have voted in the early voting for the November general election, then also voted on election day. One voted at BECEP, which is the former Richolt Elementary School, and one voted at Prairie Rose Elementary School, Mehrer said.  Glatt said the possible irregularity was discovered during an audit.”

Northjersey.com: “Nearly a dozen of Councilman Rigo Rodriguez’s supporters, including the mother of school board vice president Wendy Guzman, have been arrested on voter fraud charges stemming from the municipal election in May, and more are expected to be nabbed this week as part of a sweeping corruption probe by state authorities, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office said.”

Tabella knows more about elections than Brutus and Cato combined – maybe even more than Publius.  Tabella is an expert on federal election law as well as various state election laws.   More than anything else, Tabella is a seasoned advocate for good government.  Tabella is a strong advocate for sunshine’s role in scaring away the cockroaches.  ElectionLawCenter.com is lucky to add Tabella as a contributor and knows that Tabella will fill a niche that nobody else in the United States is filling when it comes to commentary about election law developments.

So enjoy the added voice and the addition of a new contributor.

Key committees in both the House and Senate are preparing to closely examine what happened with MOVE Act implementation this year at the Department of Justice.  It was announced today that House Administration Committee will be Chaired by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA).  Lungren is already familiar with various aspects of DOJ enforcement of the federal voting laws.  He is thorough and dismissive of spin.  The Senate Rules Committee will be examining what happened with military voting also.  Expect a tag team.

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) is on the Rules Committee and is keenly aware of the mess of 2010 MOVE Act implementation, so much so he has all but scuttled the nomination of the Deputy Attorney General because he couldn’t get answers from DOJ.

State election officials have been alerted that MOVE Act implementation will be on the Congressional agenda.  I have also learned that Congressmen and Senators will seek to strip the Department of Justice Voting Section of their monopoly enforcement powers over military voting.  Folks on the Hill recognize that some can’t handle the heat, so it is time for them to get out of the kitchen.  Given that DOJ will still retain the power to sue, it will be interesting to see if they oppose a soldier’s right to sue to enforce federal voting rights on their own.  One suspects that is a position they wouldn’t dare take, at least not publicly.

My latest  at News Real Blog regarding the sinking James Cole nomination to be the Deputy Attorney General.  Cole may yet be confirmed, but prospects dim by the day.  Senator Jeff Sessions doesn’t like his terror policy and Senator John Cornyn doesn’t like that the DOJ failed to adequately protect military voters.

National Review.

A mess.  The New York Times has more.  “A month after the Nov. 2 election, the board this week formally certified the results of a canvass of ballots cast on voting machines and counted about 1.3 million of them, 195,055 more — or about 17 percent more — than were counted on election night.”

The Washington Times covers a story broken at Election Law Center yesterday: Justice Department road trip: Bureaucrats provide a peanut gallery for an unjust case.

An email was sent “encouraging 97 of his employees (including secretaries) to use paid work time to attend oral arguments in a case unrelated to most of their individual responsibilities. This reflects what little regard Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.s team has for American taxpayers and individual voters.”  Full piece.

Pigford and the New Black Panthers: Friends in High Places at DOJ at BigGovernment.com. 

“At the Justice Department, one man has played a central role in two of the most controversial racialist policies of the Obama Administration – Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli.  This bundler of huge campaign contributions for the Obama Campaign is now the second highest ranking Presidential appointee at the Justice Department.  Perrelli is best known for his central role in dismissing the slam dunk voter intimidation case brought and dropped against the New Black Panther Party.”  Full article here.