The racist states of the South — including the “honorary southern states” of Texas, Arizona and Alaska — do not like letting black and brown people vote, so 43 years ago the Voting Rights Act was signed into federal law, and ever since those officially racist jurisdictions have to get federal approval for any changes in voting law, still, because god knows we’d be back to poll taxes and grandfather clauses in about 10 minutes without the grownups keeping an eye on the crackers. So, obviously, today the “black justice” on the Supreme Court, wingnut blogger Clarence Thomas, was the brave lone voice of dissent, standing athwart the law that gave basic human rights to his race, yelling “no that shit is unconstitutional.” MORE »

• D.C. VOTING RIGHTS BILL MOVES ALONG: Golly, now look at this, the latest D.C. voting rights bill — which would give one full House seat to Washington, D.C. and another to Utah, to appease Republicans — passed a preliminary Senate vote today, 62-34, opening it to a full floor debate. If it passes a final Senate vote (later this week-ish), then it will easily pass the House and be signed by Barack Obama. John McCain and many other Republicans object to the bill because it “could be the first step toward giving the District two senators,” which is not really a reason to vote against something. [AP]

Are you and your mother-in-law still thinking about voting for Hillary Clinton? Well, wake up and smell the Constitution’s great and glorious ball-sack, which tells us explicitly that ladies cannot be elected President. One brave New Hampshire citizen ventures this brilliant legal observation in the Concord Monitor. Read on to discover how Hillary Clinton will never be the president even if everybody votes for her. MORE »

Hey, New Hampshire election officials, that is a great logo you’ve got going there. Let’s see, there’s a handicapped guy, and the nice election people have sent him a pizza, because he can’t get to the polling place in his wheelchair, which is probably a serious violation of federal and state access laws. (And thanks for the tip, “Louis J.”)

In what world could the partnership of Orrin Hatch, Joe Lieberman, and Tom Davis becalled “bipartisan”? When Eleanor Holmes Norton is getting cozy with them, obv, so she can finally have a real-life “vote” in that crazy House of Representatives. As this is a deal with the devils, it means fucking Utah gets one more representative. Because poor and black people may only be allowed equal rights if white nutjobs in the hinterlands get a little something in return for their troubles. Oh, these four all “wrote” an op-ed today, that’s why we’re talking about it. Fun Facts we learned about DC voting rights, after the jump. MORE »

Shock horror! WaPo reporter Dan Eggen comes forward with word that the Bush Department of Justice treats civil rights complaints concerning the abridgement of voting rights in a brazenly political fashion. Staff attorneys in the DoJ’s civil rights division found their recommendations to investigate credible claims of voter fraud or tampering with ballot access were met with stunning indifference, silence and/or hostility from on high. Cases ranged from Tom DeLay’s charming campaign in Texas to redistrict the Democratic party out of functional political existence and an especially wide-ranging Georgia case in which a hare-brained voter-identification plan threatened to purge hundreds of thousands of voters off the rolls who lacked driver’s licenses. (This in addition to earlier voting-section studies indicating the plan would unduly harm black voters, who wouldn’t exactly view renewed poll tests and credentials in the South as a major step forward on the road to racial justice.) Higher DoJ officials in that case furnished a textbook study in measured Bush-era empiricism, right out of the WMD files: “They said that as many as 200,000 of those without ID cards would be felons and illegal immigrants and that they would not be eligible to vote anyway.” Because, you know, if you’re not driving, why you’re just not a trustworthy American. MORE »