The NYT reports here on a federal lasuit seeking to speed up the processing of citizenship applications so that people can vote in November.

See reports in the SF Chronicle, LA Times, AP and Reuters, on the California Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a case challenging Proposition 8, which would prohibit same-sex marriages. Opponents had sought to remove the initiative… Continue reading

Real Clear Politics has this post from Rhodes Cook, regarding changes in party registration in those states that record affiliation by party.

See this report on a bill that would require every municipality to have at least one polling place that would offer same-day registration in 2008, with expansion to all precincts in 2010.

See this AP story and this Politicker post, regarding a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger from prominent members of California’s congressional delegation opposing Proposition 11, the redistricting initiative being supported by the Governor. The letter argues that Proposition 11 “is… Continue reading

See this press release from the Campaign Finance Institute, updating its analysis last month.

Finally, a summer movie for readers of this blog: Swing Vote follows the story of Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner), an apathetic, beer-slinging, lovable loser, who is coasting through a life that has passed him by. The one bright spot… Continue reading

A federal district judge in Missouri has issued a preliminary injunction, requiring Missouri’s Department of Social Services to comply with the National Voter Registration Act’s requirement to provide registration opportunities ant public assistance offices. The order may be found here… Continue reading

Dan Lowenstein has posted this paper on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: The drawn-out contest for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 may temporarily mitigate but is not likely permanently to end pressure to halt or reverse the front-loading of presidential… Continue reading

An appeal has been filed in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District, Number One v. Mukasey, which challenges the constitutionality of the reauthorization and extension of Section 5 of the VRA.

The WSJ blog has this story and Politico this one on Senator McCain’s renewed emphasis on his role in campaign finance reform, exemplified by his new slogan “Reform – Prosperity – Peace.”

See this report on the NAACP’s 99th annual convention in Cincinnati this week, the theme of which is “Power, Justice, Freedom, and the Vote.” Senator Obama spoke at the convention Monday, and Senator McCain is speaking today.

The Wall Street Journal reports here that the McCain campaign “gathered most of the money using an unprecedented system that allows it to collect checks as large as $70,000 from an individual by parsing the money between the campaign, the… Continue reading

Politico reports here that “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac … have spent nearly $200 million on lobbying and campaign contributions” in the past decade.