The Washington Post reports: U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan has rejected requests by the Bush-Cheney campaign and by two advocates of campaign finance legislation to order the Federal Election Commission to impose tough regulations on "527" political committees that put more than $400 million into the 2004 elections.

Instead, in a ruling issued late Wednesday evening, the judge gave the FEC a choice: Either explain in detail why regulations are not needed or begin proceedings to develop such rules. ...

The judge warned that if the FEC continues to treat 527 committee complaints on a case-by-case basis instead of issuing encompassing rules, it will have to explain how the interests of complainants will be protected under time-consuming processes that often do not produce any action until the election is over.

"Cases arising from the 2004 campaign have languished on the Commission's enforcement docket for as long as 23 months, with no end in sight, even as the 2006 election campaign has begun," Sullivan wrote. "The FEC can take years to complete an administrative action, and penalties, if they come at all, come long after the money has been spent and the election decided." -- FEC Ordered to Rethink '527' Rules

Read this in conjunction with the story below and you will understand why 527s might feel like they are between a rock and a hard place. Have you hugged your 527 today?

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The New York Times reports: To many Republicans, the liberal activist organization MoveOn.org is a political boogeyman that they hope to chase off with new restrictions on so-called 527 groups.

But the pursuit may turn out to be fruitless. Like other major groups planning to inject themselves aggressively into the midterm elections through advertisements, voter drives and issue fights, MoveOn.org has already figured out what it thinks is a better, and less controversial, way to spend its millions. Its 527 — named for a section of the tax code — is being put on ice.

"Our 527 is dormant," said Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org. He said his group would predominantly operate as a conventional political action committee, allowing it to more freely mix explicit political support and issue advocacy in a way that Mr. Pariser described as "squeaky clean."

MoveOn.org might be moving on from its 527, but Congress is not. Two years after 527's burst onto the political scene, gaining notoriety by raising unlimited amounts from private donors, Congressional Republicans are moving to rein in the groups — just in time for the November midterm elections. Leading Democrats are threatening a fight. -- G.O.P. Is Taking Aim at Advocacy Groups - New York Times

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The Columbia Missourian reports: Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan told protestors gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday that a proposed bill requiring voters to present a federal or state voting identification card could keep citizens out of the polls.

“It’s a bill that I think could risk disenfranchising up to 200,000 Missourians,” Carnahan said in the Capitol’s rotunda.

These 200,000 people affected could include senior citizens, the disabled and some students, Carnahan said.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Delbert Scott, said otherwise. “That’s absurd,” he said.

Legislation proponents argue the measure would crack down on voter fraud. -- Columbia Missourian - Bill sponsor, secretary of state differ on voter ID cards bill

The bill is here.

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The Mobile Register reports on my argument yesterday: An attorney representing three south Alabama lawmakers told a panel of three federal judges Wednesday that Gov. Bob Riley broke the law when he named Juan Chastang to the Mobile County Commission last November.

The legislators sued the governor in a Montgomery federal court, saying Riley failed to follow a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that requires the U.S. Justice Department to review in advance any changes to Alabama election practices.

Riley maintains that there was no change, so preclearance was not needed for him to fill the District 1 post, emptied when Sam Jones became Mobile's mayor in October.

The suit was filed by state Reps. Yvonne Kennedy and James Buskey, both D-Mobile, and Bill Clark, D-Prichard. They asked the court to order a belated Justice Department review. If clearance is not granted, they asked the court to set a special election for the seat and remove Chastang, a Republican, from office. -- Attorneys spar over appointment

Documents from the case can be downloaded from my office website.

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The Jerusalem Post reports: Voting has closed in Israel's prisons, and a total of 53 percent of the 9000 prisoners eligible to vote in the elections for the 17th Knesset exercised their right. -- Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World

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AP reports: Today is Thursday, March 30, the 89th day of 2006. There are 276 days left in the year. ...

In 1870, the 15th amendment to the Constitution, giving black men the right to vote, was declared in effect. -- Nola.com: NewsFlash - Today in history - March 30

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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports: After four hours of testing yesterday, a glitch was found in the voting system Allegheny County is planning to use in the May 16 primary.

"So far, it's not fatal," said Michael Shamos, the Carnegie Mellon University professor who will recommend whether the system should be certified in Pennsylvania.

"You do have some diagnosing to do," he told representatives of Sequoia Voting Systems, the Oakland, Calif.-based manufacturer of the AVC Advantage voting machines tested yesterday.

A week ago elections were disrupted in Chicago and the rest of Cook County because of a rash of problems with two of Sequoia's other voting systems. Problems occurred there when poll workers tried to transfer results from the machines onto tabulators that compile vote totals, said Joan Krawitz, executive director of Vote Trust USA and a resident of Cook County. -- Minor glitch found in Allegheny County voting machines

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AP reports: Attorney General Charlie Crist said Wednesday that his office has issued subpoenas to the three companies certified to sell voting machines in Florida as he reviews a dispute between the firms and Leon County's elections supervisor.

Diebold Election Systems Inc., Election Systems & Software Inc., and Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. have refused to sell equipment to let disabled voters cast ballots without help in Leon County. Elections supervisor Ion Sancho has been outspoken about his concern that the devices can be easily manipulated to change race outcomes.

The subpoenas are seeking information about whether the companies agreed among themselves not to do business with Leon County, which is in violation of the federal Help American Vote Act without the equipment.

"It is critical for our democratic process to work efficiently and effectively, but of most importance, fairly," Crist said. "These subpoenas are to ensure that the rights of our voters with disabilities as well as all Florida voters are secured." -- AP Wire | 03/29/2006 | Attorney general subpoenas voting machine companies

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The Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports: A legislative redistricting plan does not violate the state Constitution merely because it splits a city, the Third District Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.

The justices affirmed a Sacramento Superior Court judge’s ruling that lawmakers acted within their discretion when they drew up and passed the current redistricting plan five years ago. Santa Clara voters had challenged the decision to split their city between Assembly District 22 and District 24.

District 24 is currently represented by Rebecca Cohn, D-San Jose, and District 22 by Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View. Most of Santa Clara is in Lieber’s district.

The plaintiffs argued that splitting the city violated Art. XXI, Sec. 1(e) of the Constitution, which mandates that “[t]he geographical integrity of any city, county, or city and county, or of any geographical region shall be respected to the extent possible without violating the requirements of any other subdivision of this section.” -- Court of Appeal Rejects Challenge to State Assembly Redistricting

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AP reports: Civil rights groups have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to block a new Georgia law that requires a photo ID to cast a ballot.

More than two dozen civil rights, community, religious and citizen advocacy groups sent a letter to the Justice Department Tuesday.

The law was signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue in January but the Justice Department must endorse it before it can be enforced. Even if the Justice Department approves it, a federal judge could stall the law, which Georgia leaders would like to have in place starting with the July 18 primaries. An earlier version of the voter ID law was halted by a federal judge in Rome, Ga., in October.

It makes Georgia one of only seven states that require a photo ID to cast a ballot. The law requires a voter to present one of five types of government-issued cards. The law eliminates several forms of identification currently accepted at the polls, from Social Security cards and birth certificates to utility bills. -- AP Wire | 03/29/2006 | Civil rights groups urge feds to block voter ID law

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The Monterey Herald reports: Monterey County supervisors, despite a barrage of personal barbs, decided Tuesday to remove Measure C, a ballot measure regarding the controversial Rancho San Juan development, from the county's June ballot.

The 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Dave Potter dissenting, sets up a new round of lawsuits over a blossoming conflict between county land-use policies and compliance with Spanish-language requirements of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Besides the supervisors' vote to pull the Measure C referendum off the ballot, there were other developments Tuesday on the litigation front:

• Two county Latinos filed a federal lawsuit challenging Measure C because supporters of the ballot measure didn't circulate referendum petitions in both English and Spanish.

Their suit mirrors almost exactly a case decided last week by U.S. District Court Judge James Ware, who ruled the controversial General Plan Initiative, which qualified for the ballot after another petition drive, violated minority language requirements of the Voting Rights Act. -- Monterey County Herald | 03/29/2006 | Board braces for Measure C fight

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The Daily Press reports: The ACLU of Virginia said Tuesday that it would back College of William and Mary President Gene Nichol in his goal to change the city registrar's mind about allowing college students to register to vote in local elections.

The ACLU has offered to review the applications of rejected students and help them correct any mistakes or include any necessary - but missing - information. Kent Willis, the organization's director, said the ACLU was prepared to file lawsuits on behalf of students if circumstances warranted.

Willis said that students effectively lived in Williamsburg for four years while in school and that it's important for them to participate in the community. "Registrars who create barriers for people to vote in their communities aren't doing their jobs," Willis said.

Nichol sent a letter to students last week, encouraging them to register to vote in Williamsburg by Monday, the deadline before the May 2 municipal election, if they chose to. -- W&M students get ACLU backing to vote

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AP reports: The state will appeal a King County judge's ruling that restores voting rights to convicted felons who have served their time but owe court-imposed fines, Attorney General Rob McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed announced today.

In a joint written statement, McKenna and Reed said each state has the right to "determine the process for restoring voting rights to felons."

"We believe a rational basis does exist for the Legislature to deny felons the right to vote until they have completed their entire court-ordered sentences, including payment of criminal penalties, victim's restitution, and legal fees, rather than separating out various sentencing aspects," they wrote.

King County Superior Court Judge Michael Spearman ruled Monday that the state's requirement that ex-felons pay all court-ordered fines and fees before they can vote again violates the equal-protection clauses in the U.S. Constitution and the state constitution. -- The Seattle Times: Local News: State to appeal ruling granting voting rights to felons who owe fines

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The Providence Journal reports: After castigating the state Board of Elections for not doing its job, a Superior Court judge yesterday permanently barred the board from investigating an alleged election-law violation by the Republican Party and Governor Carcieri's campaign before the 2002 election.

Judge Stephen J. Fortunato said that the board's years-long failure to make it clear to candidates and political organizations what they can and can't do and how the board would handle violations meant that the investigation trampled on the First Amendment and due process rights of the Republicans.

The underlying question of the case is whether the Republicans did anything wrong in 2002, when the state party got $250,000 from the Republican National Committee and used part of it to finance a pro-Carcieri TV commercial.

During several hours spent listening to arguments and questioning lawyers yesterday, Fortunato focused on the fact that while the state has laws governing the conduct and financing of elections, the Board of Elections has not, in his view, written and adopted rules and regulations that spell out what the laws mean and how the board intends to enforce them.

Some of the regulations are inadequate, he said, and some don't exist at all. -- Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal | Local News

Thanks to James Bopp for the link.

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The New York Times reports: A multiyear campaign by civil rights leaders to reauthorize the act, parts of which expire in August 2007, appears to be on the verge of success.

Liberal supporters and conservative opponents say they expect it to be reauthorized and, probably, even strengthened in coming weeks, well ahead of the deadline.

"The Republicans know that if they question the wisdom of reauthorization the Democrats will relentlessly demagogue them on the issue," said Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, which opposes reauthorization. "They'll be called racist and accused of wanting to turn back the clock on civil rights. The Republicans would really like to have this off the table."

The Voting Rights Act, a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was intended to break down barriers that had kept blacks from registering to vote, mostly in the Deep South. It prohibits officials from disenfranchising blacks through gerrymandering or vote rigging. -- Extension of Voting Act Is Likely Despite Criticism - New York Times

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The Arizona Republic reports: A coalition of advocacy groups plans to sue Secretary of State Jan Brewer over the state's new voter identification requirements, claiming her rigid application of the law could prevent some out-of-state Arizonans, such as military members or college students, from registering in their home state.

Brewer dismissed the legal threat Wednesday as little more than politics and vowed not to back down from the challenge.

The latest confrontation is part of the continuing legacy of Proposition 200, a ballot measure approved by Arizona voters in 2004. The measure imposed new proof-of-citizenship requirements on registrants and strict voter ID rules at the polls.

This dispute centers on whether Arizona voters who register using a nationwide federal voter registration form also must produce the proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate or valid Arizona driver's license, demanded by state law. Federal law requires registrants using the federal form only to sign the document after checking boxes attesting to their citizenship and age. -- Voter ID coalition will sue Brewer

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AP reports: As legislation requiring a photo identification to vote lingers in the Senate, both supporters and opponents are pointing to recommendations from a commission co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter to justify their positions.

The bill would require voters to show a government-issued photo identification to cast a ballot — a change supporters say is necessary to prevent voter fraud, but which critics say would be a hassle that discourages people from voting.

Both sides cite the Commission on Federal Election Reform, which was organized by American University and led by Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker.

The commission called for states to require photo identification at the polls and said such ID cards should follow a federal law requiring people to prove they are legally in the country before obtaining driver's licenses or state ID cards. -- News-Leader.com | Local News

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The Washington Post reports: In 2001, when Karl Rove first outlined plans for a $50 million get-out-the-vote program, his PowerPoint presentation made one point clear: The effort would be a "joint project of the White House and the Republican National Committee."

Rove's declaration points to a crucial difference between the Republican and Democratic parties. Less than a year later, top Democratic strategists began moving in precisely the opposite direction. During the Bush years, voter mobilization in large measure has been run by what analysts call a "shadow Democratic Party" -- consisting of outside groups operating independently from the Democratic National Committee and the party's top office seekers. ...

Over the past 30 years, the Republican National Committee has centralized control and funding of such basic political functions as voter mobilization and message development.

The RNC contracts out work to consultants who operate under strict oversight. Those who fall out of favor face being cut off from party-generated work. Independent groups, such as the Club for Growth, are viewed by the party establishment as disruptive, encouraging conservative primary challenges to moderate incumbents as much as contributing to the defeat of Democrats.

Democrats, by contrast, tend to view the independent groups with gratitude rather than resentment -- because they are doing essential political work that is not being done by others. -- '527' Legislation Would Affect Democrats More

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The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: In the wake of court decisions stripping the initials "I.Q." from the ballot listings of two candidates for separate Orleans Parish assessor districts, Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ater has removed the label from the listings of five other assessor candidates on the "I Quit" ticket.

The state 4th Circuit Court of Appeal last week upheld rulings by two district judges that candidates Chase Jones and Ron Mazier could not include "I.Q." as a nickname on their listings for the April 22 election, and the state Supreme Court refused Friday to hear an appeal from that ruling.

Although state law permits the use of nicknames on the ballot, it prohibits "designations," and the courts ruled that listing "I.Q.," which Jones and Mazier admitted they had never used as a nickname before agreeing to join the "I.Q." ticket, therefore was illegal.

With no public announcement, Ater's office then stripped the term from the ballot listings of the five other candidates, although no legal challenges had been filed against them. ...

The "I Quit" ticket qualified candidates against the incumbents in all seven New Orleans assessor races, and all included "I.Q." in their names. If elected, all seven have pledged to forgo their annual salary and use the money to hire a professional appraisal firm to handle property valuations. Their ultimate goal is to consolidate the seven assessor offices into one, a move that would require state legislation and voter approval, and they have promised to step down if such legislation is approved. -- All 'I.Q.' initials taken off ballots

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The New York Times reports: The battle among candidates for city office has begun, but running alongside it is a fight over the election itself.

Seven months after Hurricane Katrina, thousands of voters, particularly black ones, have yet to return to the city.

In their absence, community groups and activists have repeatedly challenged the legitimacy of the election, on April 22, for mayor, City Council and a host of lesser offices.

On Monday, a federal judge turned away their arguments, suggesting that the need to vote trumped all.

But even as he did so, the judge, Ivan L. R. Lemelle of Federal District Court in New Orleans, told his own history of displacement and loss, acknowledging that the election, with its shifting and destroyed polling places, its thousands of absentee ballots not yet mailed and its participants scattered throughout the country, would be far from perfect. -- Judge Orders New Orleans to Proceed With Election - New York Times

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AP reports: The former co-owner of a telemarketing firm pleaded not guilty Monday to participating in a Republican scheme to jam Democrats' get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002.

Shaun Hansen, 34, of Spokane, Wash., was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 8, but the charges were not made public until his arraignment Monday.

Hansen is charged with conspiring to commit and aiding the commission of telephone harassment. Prosecutors say he was paid $2,500 to have employees at Idaho-based Mylo Enterprises place hundreds of hang-up calls to phone lines installed to help voters get rides to the polls on Nov. 5, 2002. Among the contests decided that day was the close U.S. Senate race in which Republican Rep. John Sununu beat outgoing Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. -- Fourth man charged in GOP phone-jamming scam - Boston.com

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AP reports: Convicted felons who have served their time but owe court-imposed fines cannot be denied the right to vote, a King County Superior Court judge ruled Monday.

Washington prohibits felons currently on probation, in prison, or on parole from voting. Ex-felons in the state also must satisfy all court-related costs before getting their rights restored. More than 150,000 ex-felons are unable to vote, about 3.6 percent of the state's population.

"It is well recognized that there is simply no rational relationship between the ability to pay and the exercise of constitutional rights," Judge Michael Spearman wrote. -- King County court rules convicted felons with outstanding fines can vote

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DavidNYC writes on DailyKos: Fun stuff. Until recently, the CA-50 special election had been a surprisingly low-key affair. However, with the election now less than three weeks away, the Republicans are - unsurprisingly - resorting to dirty tricks. When it comes to sending out campaign communications, there's a little thing called "the law," and one GOPer candidate (Eric Roach) looks to have broken it. Check out 2 USC § 441d:

Whenever a political committee makes a disbursement for the purpose of financing any communication through any... mailing... such communication... if paid for and authorized by a candidate... shall clearly state that the communication has been paid for by such authorized political committee....

In other words, if you send out a mailer, you've got to put one of those little disclaimers on it, saying who authorized and paid for the mailer. The Roach campaign sent out a two-page letter - purporting to be from his wife, Meg - but didn't include any disclaimers at all. Not on page one, not on page two, not on the front of the envelope, not on the back of the envelope. -- Daily Kos: CA-50: GOPer Sends Out Possibly Illegal Mailer (& More!)

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AP reports: Despite these achievements, tribes point to restrictive voting laws around the country. South Dakota's new voter identification law -- passed after Johnson's election -- requires residents to show photo identification at the polls, a problem for many on the reservations who don't have IDs. The law permits those without identification to sign an affidavit, but opponents argue there is confusion about what is allowed. The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged other voter identification statutes seen as restrictive to Indians in Albuquerque, N.M. and Minnesota.

"The tribes are still very concerned about the targeted efforts to disenfranchise their vote," says Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians. "We are having to change a mind-set that exists."

Others imply the problems are exaggerated. Chris Nelson, South Dakota's Republican secretary of state, focuses on the positive -- a huge differential in American Indian turnout between 2000 and 2004, after two major Senate races -- and says he has seen little evidence of voter intimidation.

Nelson says he is even willing to support removing some federal protections on South Dakota's reservations. Shannon and Todd Counties -- historically home to the state's largest population of American Indians -- are included in Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, meaning that any major changes in election policy there must be federally approved. -- Sioux City Journal: American Indians still face obstacles in voting

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The Montgomery Advertiser publishes my letter: While we want and need to be fair to our overseas voters, we must remember that they are about one-half of 1 percent of the electorate. Inconveniencing the other 99.5 percent by a longer runoff primary period just does not make sense. Doubling the runoff period from three to six weeks means twice as many ads we have to watch, and twice as much money the candidates have to raise for that period.

In the 2004 general election, Alabama's election officials sent out 8,000 overseas ballots but only 4,200 were returned. Those 4,200 voters already have problems that prevent their equal participation in our elections. The ranked-choice ballot would cut the administrative burden of the overseas voters in half. They would have to review the candidates only once, seek out the official to verify their signature only once, and mail the ballot back to Alabama only once. -- montgomeryadvertiser.com:: Ranked-choice primaries work

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Ed Packard writes in the Montgomery Advertiser: While I have no quarrel with extending the absentee voting period, we should also look at easier and quicker methods for the military to request, receive and vote their absentee ballots. The Pentagon already has an established service that allows for the fax or e-mail transmission of voting materials.

During the first Gulf War, Alabama had no problem allowing our soldiers to transmit voting materials via fax. But now, leaders in the Legislature and the executive branch say they cannot support these methods, despite the fact that all other states allow the military to utilize some kind of electronic or fax transmission to complete all or part of the absentee voting process. -- montgomeryadvertiser.com:: State must empower military voters

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The Orlando Sentinel reports:
In an effort to jump-start her sputtering Senate campaign, Rep. Katherine Harris went on national television invoking the memory of her late father and saying the money he left her will form the financial foundation of her challenge to Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Now the Harris campaign says that's not the case.

Campaign spokeswoman Morgan Dobbs said Thursday that Harris will sell her existing assets rather than rely on money from her father, a bank executive who died in January. ...

The mixed messages left campaign observers puzzled.

"She pledged all her inheritance from her dad," said Susan MacManus, a political analyst at the University of South Florida. "Obviously, that's where people think it's coming from.

"To say something different now just confuses matters. And the last thing her campaign needs right now is to confuse people."

Ed Still, a Birmingham, Ala., attorney who specializes in voting law and campaign-finance law, said he was unaware of any legal reason that might prompt Harris to use existing assets rather than inheritance money.

The attorney, who maintains an election law Web site, said, "As long as the money's hers, it doesn't matter whether she earned it or it was left to her." Still said it may be that the estate money will take time to make its way through the court. -- Campaign says Harris won't turn to inheritance - Orlando Sentinel : State News

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Luke E. Debevec writes in the Legal Intelligencer: As the Gulf Coast struggles to recover from the multiple traumas inflicted during and after Katrina and Rita, numerous blogs and other Internet resources are addressing the legal ramifications of the storms and their aftermath. -- After the Storms:
Blogs Step Up
Response to Hurricanes

Among the blogs listed on voting rights issues are FairVote, Paper Chase, and yours truly.

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The North Country Gazette reports: Many of New York’s local boards of election are systematically and illegally preventing thousands of eligible New Yorkers from registering to vote, according to a new study released by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and Demos.

Under New York law, the right to vote is restored to citizens with felony convictions once they have served their maximum sentences, or have been discharged from parole. New Yorkers on probation never lose their right to vote. Despite these facts, the new survey shows that more than one-third of New York’s 63 local election boards, including four boards in New York City, are unlawfully disfranchising potentially thousands of eligible voters with criminal convictions.

In the survey, 24 of New York’s 63 local boards reported, incorrectly, that individuals on probation are not entitled to vote, or stated that they did not know if probationers are eligible. Twenty local boards also request unwarranted documentation—beyond that authorized by New York law—before allowing an individual with a felony conviction to register to vote. Frequently, the documents requested do not exist, making it impossible for individuals to register even if they attempt to comply with the illegal requests. -- Study Shows Election Boards Blocking NY’ers From Voting

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NPR's Morning Edition reports: The Justice Department is planning to file a voting rights suit against a city in Ohio. The last time the department brought a lawsuit alleging a pattern of discrimination against black voters was in 2001. -- NPR : Ohio City Investigated for Voting Discrimination

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The Census Bureau has released Voting and Registrationin the Election of November 2004. The report covers turnout and registration rates by

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Let Freedom Ring, Inc. announces: The sponsor of the Pennsylvania Pastor’s Network, Let Freedom Ring, Inc., called yesterday’s complaint against it and others over a Pastors Convocation earlier this month filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (“CREW”) ‘groundless’ and is confident that “this IRS complaint filed by CREW today will be dismissed just as the last IRS complaint CREW filed against us was dismissed.”

Colin Hanna, President of Let Freedom Ring, sponsor of the Pennsylvania Pastor’s Network (“PPN”) said, “CREW is a partisan front group masquerading as a non-partisan, non-political organization. The complaint filed today is no different from the one CREW filed against Let Freedom Ring for the work we did in 2004. CREW claimed then (as now) that we were violating the law – the IRS agreed with us that we had not violated the law by informing pastors and religious leaders of their rights under the First Amendment to be involved in their community’s public policy debate(s), to educate them about issues of concern to people of faith, to conduct non-partisan voter registration drives and to exercise their rights as citizens. We and all our participants have followed and will continue to follow both the letter and spirit of the law.” -- 'Let Freedom Ring' Calls Washington Group's Latest Harassment of Religious Conservatives Baseless

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AP reports: A proposed state constitutional amendment that would have stripped lawmakers of their power to redraw legislative and congressional districts was knocked off the ballot Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court.

In a separate ruling, the high court unanimously approved putting on the 2008 ballot another citizen initiative that would put a ban on same-sex marriages in the Florida Constitution. Sponsors had hoped to send it to voters this year but failed to get enough petition signatures.

The justices ruled in a 6-1 opinion that the redistricting proposal failed to meet requirements to address only a single subject and have clear and unambiguous language.

The citizen initiative would have set up a 15-member commission to handle redistricting every 10 years. Sponsors had collected the 611,009 signatures needed to put the amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot. -- AP Wire | 03/23/2006 | High court kills redistricting amendment, OKs gay marriage one

The advisory opinions may be seen here: marriage amendment; independent redistricting commission.

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The Gary Post-Tribune reports: A Lake County police officer was among 12 people indicted Wednesday for vote fraud in East Chicago.

Ponciano Herrera, a 12-year veteran of the Lake County Police Department, an associate of Sheriff Roy Dominguez and an East Chicago precinct committeeman, was charged with four counts of perjury and four counts of fraud, all felonies.

Herrera and the other indictees allegedly induced people to sign false or incomplete absentee ballots, or themselves voted outside their home precincts during the 2003 East Chicago Democratic primary, which featured a hard-fought campaign for mayor between incumbent Robert Pastrick and challenger George Pabey.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Herrera convinced four of his neighbors — a deaf brother and sister and two mentally retarded people — to sign their absentee ballots and turn them over to him without voting. -- News - Post-Tribune (Northwest Indiana)

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The Montgomery Advertiser reports: Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Moore answered directly Wednesday when he was asked whether voters are capable of picking delegates for a state constitutional convention.

"No." ...

A woman brought up the subject of constitutional reform and wanted to know if Moore thought the people of Alabama "had enough sense" to elect representatives to a constitutional convention.

The former state Supreme Court chief opposes rewriting the document state constitution, a document that has been criticized for being voluminous and out of date. -- montgomeryadvertiser.com�::� Moore says voters not capable

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AP reports: Prosecutors seeking to restore dropped charges against Rep. Tom DeLay told an appeals court Wednesday that Texas' prohibition on using corporate money in political campaigns is a felony and should be subject to the state's criminal conspiracy law.

A lower court judge dismissed a conspiracy charge against DeLay in December, agreeing with defense arguments that when the alleged offense was committed the conspiracy law did not cover election code violations.

DeLay is accused of funneling illegal corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Texas House. The Republicans went on to win control of the Legislature in 2002 and pushed through a DeLay-engineered redistricting plan that helped Texas send more Republicans to Congress in 2004. ...

Travis County Assistant District Attorney Richard Reed and DeLay's lawyer, Dick Deguerin, each offered brief oral arguments Wednesday focused mostly on technical legal questions about the state's conspiracy law.

The three-judge panel of the 3rd Court of Appeals was not expected to rule for at least a month. -- Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News

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AP reports: Requiring voters to show a free photo identification is just one of several changes the U.S. electoral system needs to catch up with most of the rest of the world, former President Carter said Wednesday.

He said Mexicans, Palestinians and Venezuelans all had fairer and more doubt-free elections than Americans recently.

"We've got a long way to go," he said. "It's disgraceful and embarrassing." Carter made the observation as he filmed a TV and radio program on the recommendations made last year by a commission he co-chaired to restore public confidence in elections.

The former president said requiring voters to show a free photo identification at the polls was just as "practical" as the many identification needs of daily life. -- AP Wire | 03/22/2006 | Carter promotes requirement of voter ID

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The Virgin Islands Daily News reports: Court procedures are again in motion to make a long-awaited decision on a federal court case demanding that territory residents who are United States citizens be represented with votes in Congress and be allowed to vote for president.

The first hearing since 2002 in a voting rights case filed by St. Thomas resident Krim Ballentine went forward in District Court on Monday morning. New Jersey District Judge Anne Thompson made no decisions, but she pronounced the case - completely argued and briefed years ago - ripe for judgment.

Ballentine, a St. Thomas activist and 2004 candidate for V.I. delegate to Congress, filed a lawsuit in District Court in 1999 challenging the Revised Organic Act of 1954. Ballentine's lawsuit claims that he is a disenfranchised voter because he is a U.S. citizen but has no real representation in the federal government.

Residents of the Virgin Islands - and other U.S. territories and possessions - are not represented in the Electoral College, which selects the nation's president. While all states have two U.S. senators and members of the House of Representatives based on population, the Virgin Islands - as well as other U.S. territories and possessions and the District of Columbia - is represented in Congress only by a nonvoting delegate who can propose legislation and serve on committees. -- Virgin Islands, Virgin Islands Newspaper, A Pulitzer Prize Winning Newspaper, Virgin Islands Guide, Virgin Islands Info

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CREW announces: Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) alleging that a get-out-the-vote training session offered by the Pennsylvania Pastors Network (PPN) may have violated IRS rules governing charities.

The PPN is organized by four conservative organizations: Let Freedom Ring, the Pennsylvania Family Institute, the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, and the Urban Family Council. Let Freedom Ring is a section 501(c)(4) organization and the Pro-Life Federation has section 501(c)(4) and section 501(c)(3) components, but the Pennsylvania Family Institute and the Urban Family Council are both section 501(c)(3) organizations. IRS law explicitly prohibits section 501(c)(3) organizations from engaging in political activities.

According to an article by David D. Kirkpatrick appearing in the March 21, 2006 edition of The New York Times, the first training get-out-the-vote session set up by the Pennsylvania Pastors Network took place on March 6, 2006 and included a videotaped message from Senator and candidate for the United States Senate, Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). According to the article, after the videotape of Sen. Santorum was played, copies of the Senator's book, "It Takes a Family," were handed out. -- U.S. Newswire : Releases : "CREW Files IRS Complaint Against PA Pastors..."

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The New York Times reports: Weeks after the Internal Revenue Service announced a crackdown on political activities by churches and other tax-exempt organizations, a coalition of nonprofit conservative groups is holding training sessions to enlist Pennsylvania pastors in turning out voters for the November elections.

Experts in tax law said the sessions, organized by four groups as the Pennsylvania Pastors Network, could test the promises by the tax agency to step up enforcement of the law that prohibits such acti