WisPolitics.com reports: The state Elections Board today ordered Mark Green to divest his campaign of any contributions from PACs that were not registered in Wisconsin when the donations were made. The order applies to an estimated $468,000 in contributions that Green converted from his federal campaign account to his state gubernatorial fund in January 2005.

The board, on a 5-2 vote, gave Green 10 days to comply with its order. It also ordered the Republican to dump any PAC donations that exceed that state limit of $485,000 for a gubernatorial campaign.

Green's 2005 conversion of $1.3 million included $511,405 in PAC contributions, and Green had raised another $156,140 from PACs by June 30, according to a tally by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. That put his campaign at $667,545 before the current reporting period began, about $182,544 over the limit.

But Green campaign manager Mark Graul insisted the PAC donations have already been spent and there was no money to return. He said the ruling will have no impact on the campaign's finances and accused Gov. Jim Doyle of engineering the vote. -- WisPolitics.com

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The New York Times reports: With paper ballots from the 2004 presidential election in Ohio scheduled to be destroyed next week, the secretary of state in Columbus, under pressure from critics, said yesterday that he would move to delay the destruction at least for several months.

ince the election, questions have been raised about how votes were tallied in Ohio, a battleground state that helped deliver the election to President Bush over Senator John Kerry.

The critics, including an independent candidate for governor and a team of statisticians and lawyers, say preliminary results from their ballot inspections show signs of more widespread irregularities than previously known.

The critics say the ballots should be saved pending an investigation. They also say the secretary of state’s proposal to delay the destruction does not go far enough, and they intend to sue to preserve the ballots. -- Ohio to Delay Destruction of Presidential Ballots - New York Times

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AP reports: Lobbyists at the state Capitol are suing in federal court to challenge Connecticut's new campaign finance reform law.

The lobbyists say rules banning them from making campaign contributions are unconstitutional. -- Wtnh.com, Connecticut News and Weather - Lobbyists challenge constitutionality of state campaign finance law

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AP reports: The State Board of Elections dismissed a complaint Wednesday against a Republican group accused of using mailings to attack GOP House members who had allied with Democrats at the General Assembly, determining that the group barely avoided breaking the law.

By a vote of 4-1, the board determined that Republican Legislative Majority of North Carolina, a so-called "527" group, didn't violate the state law that requires disclosure of donations and expenditures for mailings that advocate expressly for a candidate.

One particular set of mailings with a baseball motif urged recipients to "call out" legislators, but didn't directly call for their defeat in the May primary, even though the lawmakers were named in the fliers, a majority on the board decided. ...

The board also unanimously found no evidence that the group coordinated its work with the incumbents' challengers or the state Republican Party. -- The Sun News | 08/31/2006 | Complaint against GOP group dismissed

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Raw Story reports: Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is set to air a segment posing the possibility that the voting rights of many Americans are under attack, RAW STORY has learned.

A nation-wide push for laws to target voter fraud is likely to disqualify many who are legally eligible to vote, the PBS program NOW will claim in a segment tomorrow night titled, "Your right to vote -- is it under assault?" ...

NOW is also preparing to use the Internet to support the story. Tomorrow morning, features on the program's website will include a state-by-state overview of election rights, an exploration of the voting rights act, and a list of "the 11 worst places in America to vote."

The segment will run tomorrow, September 1, at 8:30 p.m. -- The Raw Story | PBS set to ask if voting rights are 'under assault'

More: For more details, go to the NOW site.

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AP reports: A federal judge on Wednesday began hearing a broad-based legal assault on a 2004 state law that requires Arizonans to produce specific forms of identification to register to vote or cast a ballot at a polling station.

The case finds one Arizona county at odds with the other 14 as the challengers, including numerous civil rights and minority groups, contend that the voter-approved 2004 law would deny many Arizonans their voting rights. ...

The challengers argued that the requirements disenfranchise minorities and other voters who lack the required identification and for whom acquiring the required identification would be burdensome in time, money and effort. They also contend it hinders voter registration drives.
State lawyers said the challenge is merely an attempt by opponents of the 2004 law, which appeared on that year's ballot as Proposition 200, to do what they couldn't do at the polls. -- Judge hears challenge to state's voter ID requirement | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

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The Standard-Times reports: E. Michael Janson has voted and run for public office from his address at 895 Rockdale Ave. for many years, but he has been frozen out of the city's political life since the Elections Commission told him last November his residence does not qualify him as a registered voter.

"I don't consider myself a homeless person, but even if you do, homeless persons cannot be denied the right to vote simply because they do not have a traditional residence," said Mr. Janson, who has run for mayor six times.

City Solicitor Irene Schall agrees with Mr. Janson. After consulting with the office of the Massachusetts Secretary of State, Ms. Schall said her office has told the Elections Commission that Mr. Janson's voter registration should be reinstated because Massachusetts state law ensures even homeless people the right to vote. ...

The Elections Commission removed Mr. Janson from the voter rolls after a Nov. 22, 2005, hearing in which city resident Evangelos "Gilly" Safioleas filed a complaint that alleged Mr. Janson did not have a legal voting address. The commission nullified Mr. Janson's voter registration because his residence is a garage that does not have heat or running water, and because Mr. Safioleas testified that Mr. Janson actually lived in a rooming house on Elm Street. -- SouthCoastToday.com - City backs candidate's voting right - August 31, 2006

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The Springfield Republican reports: Averting a legal showdown between the city and the federal government, Mayor Charles V. Ryan has agreed to speed up voting reforms to help more Spanish-speaking residents register and vote in city elections.

Under an agreement reached yesterday with the U.S. Justice Department, the city will hire 57 bilingual poll workers, appoint an Hispanic voting coordinator, allow federal election monitors and make translators and other services available beginning with the Sept. 19 primary elections.

For the November election, the city must hire 95 bilingual poll workers, compared with 37 that staffed last year's municipal election. Overall, the city employs 384 poll workers on election day, spread out over 64 precincts.

The agreement comes four weeks after the Justice Department filed suit against the city, accusing it of discriminating against Spanish-speaking voters by failing to provide enough assistance at the polls. City officials acknowledged that local efforts fell short of requirements set by the Voting Rights Act, but said there had been considerable progress in recent months. -- Voting rights suit settled

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The Birmingham News editorializes: What exactly is a crime of "moral turpitude?" That is the $64,000 question when it comes to voting rights for felons.

Last week, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance Jr. ruled the state must allow all felons to register to vote until the Legislature defines what constitutes crimes of moral turpitude. People convicted of some felonies, including drunken driving and drug possession, he ordered, should be allowed to register to vote immediately, while those convicted of more serious felonies will have to wait for the U.S. Justice Department to review the voting change. ...

State law bans felons found guilty of crimes of moral turpitude from voting unless they apply for and have their voting rights restored by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. But the law doesn't say exactly what those crimes of moral turpitude are. In the past, attorneys general have given examples of some crimes that fall into the category, but not a complete list. -- Defining `moral turpitude'

Disclosure: Ryan Haygood and I represent the plaintiffs in this suit.

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Rick Hasen writes on Findlaw: What do former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, former House Administration Committee Chair Bob Ney, and the Green Party of Pennsylvania have in common?

They are all featured in the latest election law skirmishes between the parties--this time over ballot access.

It is not your imagination. The pace of election law litigation has indeed picked up since 2000, when the United States Supreme Court decided Bush v. Gore. With partisan control of the United States House of Representatives (and possibly the U.S. Senate) up for grabs this election season, it is no surprise that the parties have aggressively used changes in election law, and election law litigation, as part of a political strategy to gain even a small advantage in what could be another group of elections with razor-thin margins.

The most contentious election law litigation this election season involves disputes over new onerous voter identification rules. But the runner-up is litigation raising questions of ballot access. These questions have come up in elections involving candidates withdrawing in the face of scandal, candidates who lost in their political primaries but who seek to run again in the general election, and major parties making strategic use of third party-candidates to siphon support away from their opponents. -- FindLaw's Writ - Hasen: Some Recent and Ongoing Election Law Fights Over Ballot Access New Skirmishes Could Determine the Balance of Power in Congress

Comment: Rick also picks up a meme I mentioned 3 weeks ago: "All election law is local."

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AP reports: The AFL-CIO launched a $40 million voter drive on Wednesday, targeting 21 states and hoping increased turnout among union members swings competitive races in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The financial commitment amounted to the most expensive by the union for the midterm elections. The focus is 21 governors races, 15 Senate races and at least 50 House races.

The AFL-CIO said its effort could reach 12.4 million new voters — union members, their households and families — in those top-tier states. The vast majority of the candidates who would benefit are Democrats in union-heavy states, especially the Midwest.

By its estimates, the AFL-CIO is counting on a 5 percent increase in turnout. If successful, the union said, it would add 310,000 union votes to Democrat Ted Strickland's race for Ohio governor. Pennsylvania union voters could boost Democrat Bob Casey's bid to unseat Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record) by 155,000 votes. -- AFL-CIO launches $40 million campaign - Yahoo! News

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The Detroit News reports: A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to have a referendum on affirmative action removed from the November ballot, despite finding that backers of the ballot proposal used widespread and systematic fraud in collecting petition signatures.

U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow ruled the fraud did not violate the racial discrimination sections of the U.S. Voting Rights Act because it was directed at both blacks and whites.

"The court must conclude that the defendants' action, though unprincipled, did not violate the act," Tarnow said in his ruling. ...

"The court finds that MCRI and its circulators engage in a pattern of voter fraud by deceiving voters into believing that the petition supported affirmative action," Tarnow said in his ruling. -- Race issue remains on ballot - 08/30/06 - The Detroit News Online

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The Reno Gazette-Journal reports: Reno Assemblywoman Sharron Angle filed papers Tuesday asking a judge to order a new Republican primary election in the 2nd Congressional District.

Angle is contesting her defeat in Washoe District Court, despite the urging of U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., to drop her effort.

In court papers, Angle attorneys Joel and Jonathan Hansen cite 17 reasons for nullification, including a lack of training for election workers, polling-place workers not showing up on time or not at all and registered Republicans not being given Republican ballots.

Secretary of State Dean Heller defeated Angle by 421 votes in the Aug. 15 primary and is campaigning against Democrat Jill Derby. -- RGJ.com: Angle asks judge for new election

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The Eureka Reporter reports: When it comes to providing access to disabled voters by the November election, Humboldt County is firmly wedged between a rock and, well, a rock, county Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich observed Tuesday — and the only way out is a costly one.

On Friday, California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson made the long-awaited announcement on the certification of the low-tech Vote-PAD voting device: no deal.

“(T)he current version of Vote-PAD does not accurately or reliably record and verify votes,” he stated in a letter explaining his decision. “(A)fter conducting two days of extensive testing of the system’s accuracy, reliability and accessibility, ...it was very clear that some voters who are blind would be disenfranchised if this system were approved for use in California.”

The Vote-PAD devices, essentially transparent sleeves with various assistive elements, were the county’s first choice for meeting the federal mandates of the Help America Vote Act, a 2002 law that, among other things, required counties to improve disabled voters’ access by January of this year. -- The Eureka Reporter - Article

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Indiana announces in a news release: Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita last week announced the settlement of an enforcement proceeding concerning voting equipment vendor Election Systems & Software (ES&S). ES&S agreed to contribute $245,000 to help the state fund the Voting System Technical Oversight Program (VSTOP). That program will provide counties and the state with much needed technical support in the use of election equipment and the establishment of voting system standards. In addition to the VSTOP contribution, ES&S has agreed to provide, at no charge, each of the counties it services in Indiana with ballot layout assistance and voter and poll worker outreach through 2007.

"Hoosiers deserve voting systems that comply with the high standards mandated by Indiana law," said Rokita. "This settlement will give counties additional support and provide the Secretary of State's office with the resources it needs to better protect voters, election administrators, and vendors. Working together, we can help ensure that Indiana has some of the best run elections in the country." Rokita added that "ES&S has been very professional in its handling of the enforcement proceeding and I am confident that future elections will be better." -- Indiana Announces Settlement of Election Machine Enforcement Hearing

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AP reports: Federal election regulators refused to ease limits on political advertising Tuesday, blocking an effort to let interest groups run radio and television ads mentioning elected officials within weeks of an election.

The Federal Election Commission voted 3-3 on a proposal that would have allowed such ads as long as they addressed public policy issues and did not promote, support, oppose or attack a sitting member of Congress. Supporters of the change said they wanted to strike a balance between campaign ad restrictions and constitutional free speech guarantees.

The measure failed with the commission's three Democrats voting against the proposal and the three Republicans backing it.

With 70 days left before the general election, the change could have let loose a wave of unrestricted ad spending in the weeks leading up to Election Day. The vote lets stand a provision in the 2002 campaign finance law that requires independent groups to limit the contributions and to disclose the donors of money used to pay for ads that run within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. -- AP Wire | 08/29/2006 | FEC won't ease limits on interest groups

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AP reports: A $2 million loan by U.S. Senate challenger Mike McGavick to his own campaign does not trigger a "millionaires' amendment" that would allow Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell to raise more money, the Federal Election Commission ruled Tuesday.

The FEC's decision means that Cantwell will have to abide by normal campaign-finance laws, at least until the Sept. 19 primary.

In a unanimous decision, the FEC said the so-called millionaires' amendment — which lifts campaign-donation limits for anyone facing a candidate who self-finances a campaign — applies only to McGavick's Republican primary opponents, not Cantwell.

But the FEC said money donated by either Cantwell or McGavick to their respective primary campaigns could trigger the millionaires' amendment if the money is used in the general-election campaign. Both Cantwell and McGavick are expected to win easy victories for their party's nominations. -- The Seattle Times: Local News: McGavick loan won't trigger rule

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The Dallas Morning News reports: Gov. Rick Perry has called a special election to fill the seat vacated by former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

The vote will coincide with November's general election, which means that preferred GOP write-in candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs will have her name on the ballot, if she runs in the special election as well. Candidates have until Friday to file. ...

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, called Mr. Perry's calling of the election "a tactical move" to help Dr. Sekula-Gibbs because she has a complicated name and faces long odds to win the Nov. 7 general election as a write-in candidate.

"You can see her name at the top of the ballot, and that allows [voters] to put it in better at the bottom of the ballot – you know, actually dial it in better than they would have because the spelling is there on the ballot," Mr. Coleman said. Voters in the suburban Houston district will use electronic voting machines.

Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt responded, "It is a shame that Garnet Coleman thinks that the U.S. Constitution is a tactic. The U.S. Constitution requires us to call a special election for Congressman DeLay's seat." -- Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Nation

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AP reports: The legislator who handled the new law requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls was allowed to step into the court battle Monday.

Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan permitted Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, to intervene in defending the law against various city officials and potential voters who are challenging its constitutionality.

But the judge again denied a request by the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners to get involved.

Another hearing in the case is set for Friday. -- AP Wire | 08/28/2006 | Judge allows sponsor of law into voter ID case

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Arizona Capitol Times reports: Secretary of State Jan Brewer is rejecting a claim by Democrats that her appearance in a recent television commercial violates Arizona's campaign finance rules.

The Secretary of State, who is running for re-election, appeared in a 30-second television spot reminding voters to bring photo identification to the polls when they vote. ...

But a complaint filed with the Citizens Clean Elections Commission by David Waid, chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, alleges the television spot expressly advocates for Mrs. Brewer’s 2006 re-election campaign – and therefore should trigger matching funds to her publicly-funded opponent, Democrat Israel Torres. -- Arizona Capitol Times - Serving Arizona's Business, Government and Political Community since 1946

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The Springfield Republican reports: A federal judge has given the city until tomorrow to reach a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department before issuing a temporary restraining order in a voting rights lawsuit.

U.S. Judge Michael A. Ponsor set a deadline of noon tomorrow for both sides to hammer out a deal for removing obstacles for Hispanics to participate in the Sept. 19 election.

To assist Hispanic voters, the federal government is pressuring the city to hire additional bilingual poll workers and to accept federal election monitors during citywide elections. The demands are the centerpiece of a lawsuit filed on Aug. 2, accusing the city of a long-standing violations of the federal Voting Rights Act.

The injunction, requested by federal prosecutors last week, does not directly ask Ponsor to block next month's primary election. But it is unclear if city officials could comply with all its requirements - including hiring 58 more bilingual poll workers - by the Sept. 19 voting date. -- Hispanic voters must be assisted, judge says

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AP reports: Chilton County's lone black commissioner, Bobby Agee, figures his tenure on the County Commission is over if the central Alabama county, which is nearly 90 percent white, ends a cumulative voting system that was approved in 1988.

So does an attorney representing black voters in the county, which had an all-white commission prior to the change.

"Because of racially polarized voting, only blacks stand to lose if the voting system is changed," attorney Jim Blacksher said Monday.

U.S District Judge Myron Thompson, who approved the 1988 plan, ruled earlier this month that the cumulative voting for seven county commissioners in Chilton County must end and the county must return to four commission districts elected under one person, one vote. -- Chilton County's lone black commissioner worried about vote order | TimesDaily.com | Times Daily | Florence, AL

Disclosure: James Blacksher and I represent the black plaintiffs in this case.

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ACSblog reports: The Southern District of Florida has issued a preliminary injunction against a 2005 law which restricted persons and organzations registering voters. Under Florida's Third-Party Voter Registration Law, any person or organization, other than a political party, who registered voters was required to deliver the voter registration forms to an election official within 10 days or else face fines up to $5000 per form. The law applied even to organizations who lost forms through no fault of their own, such as in a hurricane, flood or fire.

As a result of this law, many organizations, such as the League of Women Voters and the Florida AFL-CIO, ceased registering Florida voters entirely out of fear that their organization's budget would be evicerated by fines, causing thousands of eligible Florida voters to go unregistered.

The court, in an opinion by Judge Patricia Seitz, held that the Florida law violates the First Amendment. According to the court, the First Amendment allows organizations to choose the "most effective means of conducting their voter registration drives to ensure their voices are heard in the political process." Additionally, the court held the law to be unconstitutionally discriminatory because it exempted political parties.

The court issued a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the Florida law. -- ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society

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The Tuscaloosa News reports: A group of 60 supporters vowed Sunday to make their votes work for Greene County sheriff candidate Ison Thomas.

His 243-vote win in the June 6 primary over incumbent Sheriff Johnny Isaac was shunted aside Saturday when the State Democratic Executive Committee named Isaac the nominee.

Thomas' supporters rallied Sunday evening, making plans to raise $3,000 to $4,000 for his legal fund to challenge the decision of the Democratic executive committee and counter the contest to the legality of his win. ...

A state Democratic subcommittee ruled last month that Thomas had not filed his campaign finance forms properly after Isaac contested Thomas’ win. Since then both candidates have hired attorneys to settle the dispute. -- GREENE COUNTY: Residents rally behind Ison Thomas - Tuscaloosa

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The Concord Monitor reports: The Sept. 12 primary can be held as scheduled, the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday. At the request of the state, the justices issued an order clarifying their recent decision that the state's ballot order was unconstitutional.

The judges delayed enforcement of their ruling until after the primary but said the state must come up with a new ballot for the Nov. 7 general election. That ruling pleased both parties in the lawsuit: the secretary of state and politicians who sued the state. But top Republican lawmakers said it represented only a modest improvement, warning that they may convene a rare special session to settle the matter.

"I think we're going to have to come back," Senate Majority Leader Bob Clegg said. The Hudson Republican said the court issued a flawed decision that could harm voters in its attempt to make the ballot fairer for candidates. ...

The lawsuit that triggered this dispute accused the state of giving an unconstitutional advantage to certain candidates by putting the majority party first - a law that has given Republicans the top spots on the ballot for 40 years - and by listing candidates in alphabetical order within party lists. The Supreme Court struck down both laws.

State officials have conceded the party matter. The debate right now is over alphabetizing. -- Concord Monitor Online Article - Justices give go-ahead to Sept. 12 vote - Your News Source - 03301

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The Sacramento Bee reports: Opponents of the oil tax initiative, Proposition 87, got an early start on raising money and putting together their campaign.

But they forgot one critical item in today's marketplace of ideas: They didn't lock up every possible Web site address.

So the initiative's tech-savvy supporters swooped in and scooped up several obvious addresses, like www.noon87.com.

Clicking on that and other obvious addresses sent Internet users to the "Yes on 87" site, rather than the "No on 87" site -- until the opponents sued last week to claim the addresses.

"One doesn't always expect the other side to pull dirty tricks," said "No on 87" spokesman Scott Macdonald. "Maybe it's a lesson for us." -- Politics - The buzz: Prop. 87 team sets sites on foes' domains - sacbee.com

Comment: That's like saying, "I did not expect the other army would use bullets."

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On NPR: Missouri's new voter identification law is now in effect. It requires citizens to show a state-issued photo ID before voting. The law faces legal challenges. A Federal judge in Georgia threw out a similar law, while a judge in Indiana upheld one. Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports. -- NPR : Missouri Voter ID Law Faces Legal Challenges

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Glenn C. Altschuler writes in the Baltimore Sun: The civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s confronted embedded beliefs and behavior, and transformed the social, political and legal landscape in the American South. Virtually no one, black or white, remained untouched by it. In There Goes My Everything, Jason Sokol, a doctoral student at the University of California at Berkeley, examines the response of ordinary white Southerners to the "new realities" - in public schools, municipal pools, motels, restaurants and voting booths.

Well-researched and judicious, There Goes My Everything reminds us that before the civil rights movement exposed "old truths" as myths, segregation had "the feel of something natural" and immutable for many whites. Convinced that they understood their blacks, white Southerners interpreted deference as a sign of friendship, silence as satisfaction. By the '50s many of them acknowledged that segregation was a social construction. Nonetheless, Sokol argues, stereotypes of potbellied, tobacco-chewing, Confederate-flag-waving "good old boys" have hidden the wide range of responses to the assault on racism. To be sure, there were dead-enders aplenty, like Lester Maddox, proprietor of Pickrick, a popular fried chicken restaurant, who lambasted "outside agitators," organized Georgians Unwilling to Surrender (GUTS) and brandished an axe handle to keep blacks out of his establishment. But many others waffled, embraced some aspects of the new social order or "walked gingerly across its threshold." -- How Southern whites woke up to the new reality of civil rights - baltimoresun.com

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AP reports: Mike Corsini has relied on others to help him vote for more than two decades. Next month, he will roll his wheelchair into a voting booth and select his favored candidates through a touch-sensitive electronic screen -- the first ballot he'll cast on his own since an injury rendered him a quadriplegic 28 years ago.

Corsini, 43, will be able to vote on an electronic voting machine configured specially for use by the blind and the disabled, allowing them access to voting in a completely private way -- the first time such equipment has been available statewide.

Corsini of Spanaway has voted by mail in Pierce County for a decade. But even then he needed help because he can't grasp things in his hands. Now, all he'll need to do is press on the touch-screen machine to register his vote.

"When you're a person with a disability and you need assistance, you lose privacy," said Corsini, who has been paralyzed since a motorcycle accident at the age of 15. -- High-tech voting booths give disabled privacy

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The New York Times reports: With New York State facing a looming deadline to modernize its election technology, a new report offers evidence that one of the two major types of voting machines being considered has a higher rate of unrecorded votes, suggesting that it is too confusing for many people.

The report, which the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law intends to release today, examined election records from thousands of counties across the nation since 2000. It is likely to animate long-simmering debates across the state’s 62 counties, which face a December deadline for deciding how to replace antiquated voting equipment.

For an overwhelming majority of the state’s 11.6 million registered voters, the changes will mean the end of the creaky lever machines that have been used for decades. ...

The direct-recording electronic system is not inherently flawed, the report found, but when it is combined with full-face ballots, there seems to be more difficulty, particularly in areas with more black, Hispanic and low-income voters. -- Voters Find Some Machines Harder to Use - New York Times

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The Mobile Press Register reports: Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. confirmed Friday that his office is looking into possible voter fraud in the disputed Democratic runoff for Alabama House District 98 between Darren Flott and James Gordon.

"I've sent my investigators to pick up the ballots and the information associated with them so that we can review it to determine whether or not we need to formally open a criminal investigation," Tyson said.

Tyson declined to comment further about the District 98 election but added, "In general, voter fraud is a fraud committed against every other voter in Alabama. Our intention both now and in the future is to see that election laws are observed."

At issue are scores of absentee ballots that Alabama Democratic Party officials earlier this week found to be forged, some on behalf of mentally incompetent citizens. -- Tyson examining disputed ballots

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Michael Hussey of Pushing Rope emailed me for information on J. Norman Estes and his companies. According to Hussey's post, Ronda Storms Is Very Popular In Alabama, 12 companies with the same Northport, Alabama, address have each made a $500.00 contribution to Ronda Storms, GOP candidate for Florida Senate District 10.

Some of the companies are organized in Alabama, but most are in other states. Estes' company, Northport Health Services, Inc., runs facilities in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Missouri. In Alabama, each facility is a separate LLC, but in the other three states, there is one LLC for the whole state.

Estes has made personal contributions to the following federal campaigns according to Political Money Line:
Ben Cardin for Senate, D- MD, $1000
Friends of Gordon Smith, R-OR, $375.00
Alabama Nursing Home Association Federal PAC, $500
Santorum 2006, R-PA, $2000
Friends of Max Baucus, D-MT, $2000
Snowe for Senate, R-ME, $2000
Jon Kyl for US Senate, R-AZ, $800
Friends of Kent Conrad, D-ND, $1400
Hatch Election Committee, R-UT, $1000
McCaskill for Missouri, D-MO, $2100

If you are interested in the influence of this one guy and his companies, take a look at Pushing Rope to get some more information on him, and then start checking your own state databases or Follow the Money to see contributions in your own state. Put your results in a comment below.

Happy hunting.

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AP reports: A defeated U.S. House candidate said Friday she would seek to toss out the results the Republican primary, citing errors in the voting process, in hopes of getting another shot at the nomination.

Sharron Angle, a conservative assemblywoman in the Nevada Legislature, lost the Aug. 15 contest by 421 votes to Secretary of State Dean Heller. She said a recount was not the right action. ...

Angle campaign spokesman Jerry Stacy said the primary was riddled with mishaps in the Reno area. ...

In official vote tallies announced Thursday, Heller won the five-candidate primary with 24,770 votes, 35.9 percent, out of 68,992 cast. Angle had 24,349 or 35.3 percent. -- Nev. candidate wants special election - Yahoo! News

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The Washington Post reports: Maryland's highest court yesterday ... rejected the state's early voting law 11 days before it was to go into effect for the first time, dealing a blow to Democrats who had hoped the extra polling days would bring out more of the party faithful in the fall.

That decision affirmed a ruling made two weeks ago by an Anne Arundel Circuit Court that said the state constitution does not authorize voting on any day other than Election Day. ...

The court ruling, he said in a statement, shows that "the General Assembly's early voting scheme was flawed, irresponsible and a blatant overreach of its authority."

Democrats assailed the decision.

"The Republicans may have gotten what they wanted out of this, but this is not a good day for Maryland or for democracy," said David Paulson, communications director for the Maryland Democratic Party. -- Court Rejects Perez Bid, Early Voting Law in Md.

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The Washington Post reports: Maryland's highest court yesterday tossed Democratic candidate Tom Perez out of the running for attorney general, ruling that he did not meet a constitutional requirement that candidates for the job practice law in Maryland for 10 years. ...

The Perez case stems from a lawsuit filed by Montgomery school board member Stephen N. Abrams (Rockville-Potomac), who said that Perez was not eligible to run for attorney general because he had not been a member of the Maryland State Bar for 10 years.

In May, Perez received an opinion from the attorney general's office that concluded that his service as a federal prosecutor and deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department appeared to meet the requirement. ...

A Circuit Court judge agreed in July, dismissing Abrams's suit. Abrams ultimately appealed the decision and personally argued the case before the Court of Appeals. -- Court Rejects Perez Bid, Early Voting Law in Md.

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The Galveston County Daily News reports: The plaque outside Tom DeLay’s old office identifies it as the Texas 22 congressional office. Staff members answer the phone, “Office of the Texas 22.”

In a high-profile race, three candidates are vying to have their name on that door when the next session of Congress begins in January.

But with all eyes on the November election, overlooked is the fact that the Constitution states that the governor shall call a special election to fill DeLay’s unexpired term.

Despite previously declaring he would call a special election, Gov. Rick Perry has yet to do so. His office is now leaving open the possibility he may decide against calling one.

The deadline for calling a special election is Tuesday, said Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, which oversees elections in Texas. -- Tuesday deadline to call Dist. 22 election

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AP reports: Openly gay Patricia Todd was reinstated Saturday as the Democratic Party's nominee for a seat in the Alabama Legislature in a vote that turned more on the race of the candidates than sexual orientation.

The Alabama Democratic Party Executive Committee voted 95-87, mostly along racial lines, to reject the ruling of a subcommittee that had voted to disqualify Todd, who is white, and her black opponent, Gaynell Hendricks, in the race for the House seat from Birmingham's predominantly black District 54. ...

The vote fell mostly along racial lines. Committee members were asked to stand to show their vote and no whites were seen standing to vote to uphold the subcommittee report, while a small number of blacks stood in support of Todd.

The vote came at the end of a tense meeting where supporters of both Todd and Hendricks crammed into a large ballroom at a Montgomery hotel and frequently interrupted with cheers or shouts.

The loudest cheers from Todd's supporters and boos from Hendricks' side came during a passionate speech by Todd's attorney Bobby Segall, who also often represents the Democratic Party.

Segall asked the executive committee members to forget race and politics and to do the right thing. ...

A dramatic point in Saturday's meeting came just minutes before the committee voted, when veteran legislator and civil rights worker Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, stood and urged the committee not to use a technicality to disqualify Todd, a tactic he said has often been used in the South to disqualify black candidates.

"Selective prosecution has been done to black people more than to any other people in the state and unless someone can show me the 59 more votes Todd received were illegal votes, there's no way you can deny her victory," Holmes said. -- Alabama Democrats reinstate gay candidate for Legislature

Disclosure: I am proud to have been one of Patricia Todd's lawyers.

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The Birmingham News reports: Alabama's attorney general says a Jefferson County judge's ruling that would allow all felons to vote is "legally unsound." Friday, he notified the Alabama Supreme Court he plans to appeal.

Separately, Attorney General Troy King asked Circuit Judge Robert Vance Jr. to withhold his order that the ruling be immediately submitted to the U.S. Justice Department for a civil rights review. Vance set a Sept. 1 hearing on the request.

Vance ruled Tuesday that all felons must be allowed to register to vote until the state Legislature passes a law that defines crimes of moral turpitude. But Vance's order is not in force until it is approved by the Justice Department under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Vance said felons who have been convicted of crimes already determined to not involve moral turpitude must be allowed to vote immediately. Attorney general opinions and other legal precedents have determined a handful of crimes such as drunken driving do not involve moral turpitude. -- AG challenges felons' voting rights

Disclosure: Ryan Haygood and I represent the plaintiffs in this case.

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The Birmingham News reports: A Democratic Party committee Thursday night disqualified an openly gay candidate for the Alabama Legislature and the woman she defeated in the primary runoff because both women violated a party rule that party officials said no other candidate has obeyed since 1988.

The committee voted 5-0 to disqualify House District 54 candidate Patricia Todd, who was attempting to become the state's first openly gay legislator, and Gaynell Hendricks.

Committee chairwoman Amy Burks said earlier Thursday the party's executive committee would make the final decision and select a nominee for the Birmingham seat at a meeting in Montgomery Saturday. -- Panel disqualifies both District 54 candidates

Disclosure: Todd is my client.

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