Evidence of what Common Cause predicted in our report on the Indiana Primary for young voters is turning up in the news this evening.  Another victory for the architects of voter suprression in the state.

The reports of student voting problems are here, here and here.  New Voters Project has reported from the ground that students at St. Mary's College, a private institution were unable to vote because their college ID does not count under the law, even though public college IDs would - if they have a valid expiration date.

You don't have to turn people away for having the wrong ID, you just have to get people not to turn up because they know they don't have the ID and can't get it.  Some of the coverage above plays down the impact of the ID law on this primary.  Yes, 12 nuns might not seem like a huge number (it's not even a whole cloister), but it's important to remember that there was a whole convent full of retired nuns that didn't and couldn't turn up because they too didn't have the ID.

In the end, suppressing one vote, disenfranchising one citizen is too high a cost to bear for an unfounded fear which produces a bad law.  It's undemocratic, it's un-American.

Russell Baughman fought in three wars for our country. His brother, Ronald, died in one of them.

As thanks for his service, Russell was turned away from the polls when he showed up to vote on March 11.

You see, his drivers license was out of date.

Of course, to drive a car legally in his state of Indiana, one must have an up-to-date drivers license or other up to date photo ID.

But Russell doesn't need to drive a car. He rides his bike.

I lost my respect and reverence for the Supreme Court long ago so I was among the large group of unsurprised yesterday when the court upheld a law erected as a barrier to voting - Indiana's strict voter photo ID law.  Not only have the justices left only the thinnest thread of hope for future challenges but, more importantly, they have encouraged those who seek to build more barriers to the polling place.  My state, Virginia, has an ID requirement.  I'm sure it won't be too long before it's amended to require a photo.  Poll tax, anyone?

While there's been a lot of legal analysis whizzing across my screen - "facial challenge" (is that acne?) -- I liked this quote:

As I noted last week, there's a link between the District of Columbia and the Maryland congressional district being vacated early, and in an unseemly manner, by Rep. Al Wynn. They share not only a boundary and some Beltway exits, but soon MD4 may be without representation in Congress - just like DC. Here's the WaPo editorial today:
A clear majority in the Senate support the bill. We only need three Senators to overcome a filibuster: A couple of Dems, Baucus (MT) and Byrd (WV) and one Repub, maybe Hagel (NE) or Smith (OR). Live in those states? Give them a call.

Pick up one of the series of state quarters and take a look at the image and "motto".   Does it reflect the way you think about your home state?  Not likely.  These quarters are bland, bland, bland.  My home state's quarter (see photo) says Gateway to Freedom?  Oh yeah, that's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of New York.  And I'm sure residents of Ohio and North Carolina are agitated as hell about who should have the Wright brother's plane on their quarter.

So, it's not surprising, but still disturbing, that the US Mint yesterday quickly rejected DC's proposal that DC's quarter include the "controversial" motto Taxation Without Representation.  I'd tell DC residents to call their representative in Congress -- but what's the point?  She has no vote.

Next Tuesday, February 12, District of Columbia citizens will have an opportunity to join their neighbors in Virginia and Maryland and vote in DC's presidential primary. But, unlike their neighbors and every other American in the 50 states, they will not have an opportunity to vote for a representative in the U.S. Congress.

-- got to go - more later...here's a photo of the DC Voting Rights march last April.

When the Senate failed to end the filibuster on the DC Voting Rights Act, there was a lot of talk by opponents about the Constitution.  But behind the rhetoric there is a lot of ignorance about the District - even with Senators who live and work in DC.

One myth is that DC is full of transients, who come here to work in politics for a few years and then leave.  Marc Fisher, in the WaPo, has some stats disputing that myth.  And one of his readers succintly put down this notion:

And here's Fisher's list of cities and % of people who were born in the city and still live there:  -- read more --