Colorado: Marks prevails in lawsuit over Aspen election ballots | AspenTimes.com

Election activist Marilyn Marks has prevailed in her quest to inspect ballots cast in the 2009 city of Aspen election. The Colorado Supreme Court has reversed its decision to hear the case, the city learned Thursday morning. That means a Court of Appeals ruling that supports Marks' position will stand. The state's high court had agreed in April to hear the city of Aspen's motion to appeal the Court of Appeals decision. There was no explanation from the Supreme Court regarding its change of direction, but it means the Court of Appeals ruling in Marks' lawsuit against City Clerk Kathryn Koch, custodian of the ballots, has been upheld. “Marks v. Koch is now clearly the law of the land,” Marks said. “I love closure,” was all Koch had to say about the latest development.

Colorado: Technological problem delayed Tuesday’s vote tally in Pitkin County | AspenTimes.com

Though turnout in Tuesday's election was light, the unofficial results couldn't be released until nearly 1 a.m. because of a technological issue, Pitkin County elections manager Dwight Shellman III said Wednesday. The polls for the election, which featured a four-man open primary for the District 4 seat on the Board of County Commissioners, closed at 7 p.m. Nearly six hours later, after Shellman worked around the technology problem, the unofficial results were released, showing that Capitol Creek rancher Steve Child and former Snowmass Village Town Manager John B. Young were the two top vote-getters in the race, pulling 666 and 524 votes respectively. … Shellman said he discovered the problem at around 10:30 p.m. after most of the mail-in and Election Day precinct votes had already been tabulated. Turnout in the election — which also featured party primaries for congressional District 3, the District 61 state representative and district attorney for the 9th Judicial District — was 21.4 percent, or 1,789 ballots cast out of 8,356 active registered voters. “Everything was going just great,” Shellman said. “We had two, as we customarily do, optical scan machines programmed for the mail-in ballots, and the first one I uploaded had the majority, 621 ballots. It uploaded without a problem. And then I went to upload the second one, 319 mail-in ballots, and our tabulation software was giving me an error saying, ‘You've already uploaded this memory card.' I've never encountered this before.” Shellman said he's not exactly sure why he got the error message.

Florida: Judge halts federal attempt to block voter purge | MiamiHerald.com

A judge on Wednesday rejected the federal government’s attempt to block Florida’s voter purge of non-U.S. citizens, partly because the purge has been suspended. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said federal laws that prohibit the systematic removal of voters close to an election do not refer to noncitizens. He also accepted the state’s claim that its purging efforts are over for now. The ruling came as part of a request by the U.S. Department of Justice, which sought a retraining order stopping the purge efforts. The agency argued that the purge violates a federal law, the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which outlaws systematic removals of voters less than 90 days before a federal election. Florida’s primary is Aug. 14. Hinkle interpreted the law to refer to people who were lawfully registered to vote before being removed, such as felons or the deceased. He said the law is silent as to noncitizens.

Minnesota: GOP lawyers: Photo ID details are not necessary | StarTribune.com

Details of proposed constitutional amendments are rarely included in the ballot question voters see and the photo ID amendment should be no exception to that rule, lawyers for the Legislature have told the Minnesota Supreme Court. In defending a ballot question asking if voters should be required to show a photo ID, lawyers for the House and Senate said in a brief filed this week that the Legislature "adhered to long-standing tradition by generally describing the proposed amendment" rather than listing every detail. "There is no requirement that the Minnesota Legislature provides voters with a 'Cliffs Notes' summary of the proposed amendment in the ballot questions," the lawyers wrote in their brief. "Indeed, of the 213 proposed ballot questions in Minnesota's history, at least 42 of the questions have contained either no suggestion as to the nature of the amendment, or such limited detail that one would not know what changes the proposed amendment would make by simply viewing the ballot question," argued the lawyers, Robert Weinstine, Thomas Boyd and Kristopher Lee.

New Mexico: Electronic Pollbooks Help End Precinct Voting in Doña Ana County | GovTech.com

Electronic registration technology has enabled Doña Ana County, N.M. to eliminate voting precincts and make it easier for residents to cast their ballots. The county moved to a system of 39 polling places where citizens can go vote, regardless of where they live in the area. Previously residents could only vote at a pre-assigned location. The change was made possible by a big change: shifting from paper-based, manual voter registration to each site having multiple computer stations that help voters check-in. Doña  Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins said Colorado’s move to a similar voting center strategy spurred the county’s interest in the method. He revealed that the upgrade has provided a variety of benefits for the county. By reducing the polling sites from 120 to 39, significantly fewer poll workers were needed and the county saved approximately $135,000 in operating costs. The technology also sped-up the voting experience for citizens during the June 5 primary election. “We were signing in four or five people at a time instead of one person at a time,” Ellins said. “It got people through in less than two minutes from the time they came in, signed the signature pad, got their ballot and went to the voting booth.”

New York: Rangel’s Rivals Make Allegations Of Voter Fraud And Uncounted Ballots | Politicker

Supporters of State Senator Adriano Espaillat are calling for a federal monitor to step in and oversee the counting of votes in his congressional race against longtime Congressman Charlie Rangel after reports of uncounted votes emerged yesterday. Mr. Rangel was initially declared the victor by the Associated Press and in unofficial totals from the Board of Elections after the election on Tuesday, but the AP subsequently published a report claiming results from 33 of the 506 precincts in the Upper Manhattan district remained uncounted. Mr. Espaillat’s supporters announced their push for a federal monitor at a press conference in front of Mr. Rangel’s office in Harlem where some of the attendees also made allegations of voter fraud at the polls Tuesday. “I’m here today to call for a federal monitor on the Board of Elections. It is unacceptable that 48 hours after the elections took place….we don’t have the outcome of this election,” said Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a close ally of Mr. Espaillat’s. “We also have a lot of concerns that still the Board of Elections has not received [results from] a number of election districts. We don’t know where they are, they don’t know where they are.” Though Mr. Rodriguez did not provide specific numbers or locations of the precincts where votes remain uncounted, he said most of these precincts are in areas favorable to Mr. Espaillat inside his State Senate district.

North Carolina: Attempt to revive voting funds killed with little used motion | WRAL.com

House Republicans headed off a potentially lengthy debate over whether to set aside more money for this year's elections with a little-used parliamentary procedure Wednesday. Both the House and Senate had set aside $664,000 in their individual budgets to trigger the release of $4.1 million in federal Help America Vote Act -- or HAVA -- funds. Together, that extra $4.7 million would have gone toward maintaining voting machines, training poll workers and opening more early-voting sites. But when the final compromise version of the $20.2 billion budget emerged, that money was gone, sparking protests from good government advocates. That budget has passed and is currently sitting on Gov. Bev Perdue's desk.  Typically, after every budget, there is a technical corrections bill that cleans up mistakes, adds in last-minute changes and otherwise tweaks the spending plan. That bill is S 187 this year and was on the House floor today.

Ohio: Ruling on provisional ballots issue expected by August | Dayton Daily News

A U.S. District Court judge plans to decide by early August on whether a consent decree requiring provisional ballots be counted regardless of poll worker errors should be invalidated or kept in place. “There is nothing more important than the franchise - the right to vote,” U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley told the attorneys on Wednesday. “This court is going to protect the franchise.” Two years ago, Marbley issued a consent decree that followed an agreement struck by the parties in the case Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless versus Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, over provisional ballots. The deal requires that provisional ballots be counted even if they were cast in the wrong precinct or the ballot envelope wasn’t properly filled out due to poll worker error. Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted is arguing that the consent decree conflicts with Ohio law governing provisional ballots and with a more recent ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court.

Oklahoma: Software glitch blamed for delays in reporting election results | NewsOK.com

State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said he is embarrassed by a software glitch that delayed posting results of Tuesday’s elections on the agency’s website for about two hours. The numbers were correct, but a problem occurred in the software when the early and absentee voting numbers were transferred to the website, he said Wednesday “We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” Ziriax said. “I’m unhappy, and I’m embarrassed by it.” It’s at least the second glitch in four elections for the software for the new $16.7 million system, which went online earlier this year with election officials promising faster election results and more data. Ziriax said election officials noticed the problem almost immediately and decided to postpone adding updated election figures until the software problem was found. Although the numbers were correct, the software problem erroneously reported in some races that all the precincts had been reported. “This is the displaying of results on a website,” he said. “It is not the tabulation of results. It is not the counting of ballots.”

Mongolia: Vote snags as ruling party seeks recount | Fox News

Calls by Mongolia's ruling party for a recount of votes at some polling stations Friday delayed results in sharply contested legislative elections that centered on how to spread the wealth from the poor but fast-growing country's mining boom. The Mongolia People's Party said it asked for the recount because discrepancies turned up in vote totals tabulated by machines and then counted by hand at some polling stations. The request sent political leaders huddling with the General Election Commission, which had been expected to announce the results from Thursday's voting on Friday morning.

United Kingdom: UK Recall Election Plans Too Weak And Should Be Abandoned, Say MPs | Huffington Post UK

The government should abandon its plan to allow voters to sack MPs mid-term, a Commons committee has said. In a report published on Thursday the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee said the proposed powers of recall were so weak that they could actually reduce the public's confidence in politics. In December last year the government published a draft Bill that proposed that MPs found guilty of "serious wrongdoing" could be being kicked out of parliament if 10% of voters in a constituency signed a petition against them. But under the plans a petition could only be held if they were first censured by a vote in the House of Commons and could not be triggered by voters themselves. A by-election would also automatically take place if an MP was convicted of a criminal offence and was sentenced to less than a year in prison.

The Voting News Daily: Tens of thousands of service members’ votes not counted, Florida moves to block voter-registration group

National: Tens of thousands of service members’ votes not counted | TheState.com

Tens of thousands of military service members attempting to vote by absentee ballot in recent years haven’t had their votes counted because of various problems with the system, according to authorities that track voter participation. The Military Voter Protection Project, an organization founded by a Navy Reserve member who previously was a Justice Department lawyer, is promoting efforts to ensure that the votes of all military members are counted. “The problem has always existed, given the high degree of mobility of our fighting forces,” said Eric Eversole, founder and executive director of the Military Voter Protection Project, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. But the issue is a bigger concern during a presidential election year with a military force totaling more than 3 million, including active-duty and reserve forces. Read More

Florida: State moves to block voter-registration group | MiamiHerald.com

State officials are considering ways to stop a Washington nonprofit from sending any more registration forms to voters. By their own estimate, officials with a Washington nonprofit have registered 200,000 voters in Florida the past eight years. This year, the same group, the Voter Participation Center, has mailed another 420,000 registration forms to residents hoping to enlist more. But state officials are considering ways to stop the center from sending any more registration forms, which the state calls confusing. “We have contacted the organization, expressed our very serious concern that they are misleading voters, offered to provide them the complaints sent to the department about their mailings, and asked that they make a concerted effort to improve their lists so that only eligible voters who aren’t registered are being contacted,” Chris Cate, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office said in an email to the Times. The objections come as the state has made other moves to block greater access to the ballot box. Read More

Pennsylvania: State GOP Leader: Voter ID Will Help Romney Win State | TPM

Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R) said that the voter ID law passed by the legislature would help deliver the state for Mitt Romney in November.

“Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it’s done. First pro-life legislation - abortion facility regulations - in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done,” Turzai said at this weekend’s Republican State Committee meeting , according toPoliticsPA.com.

A spokesman for Turzai confirmed the accuracy of the quote for TPM but argued that people were reading too much into it. “The fact is that while Pennsylvania Democrats don’t like it to be talked about, there is election fraud,” Turzai spokesman Stephen Miskin told TPM. “Protecting the integrity of an individual vote is the purpose of any election reform. So was Turzai suggesting that Democrats had won previous elections through voter fraud?

South Dakota: The ES&S M650 – A ballot machine noted for problems | The Daily Republic

It’s unknown at this time if human or computer error caused the June 5 ballot counting problems at the Davison County Courthouse, but it’s not the first time an Election Systems & Software M650 ballot scanner has been involved in election irregularities. The group VotersUnite.org has posted lists of nationwide ballot system problems on its website. The group alleges that miscounts and errors have become commonplace with ballot scanners including the M650. Its site lists numerous instances of voting system problems going back nearly a decade. In Mitchell, a June 7 recount prior to the official canvass of ballots showed that ballot totals from the M650 were higher on June 5 than they should have been. The recount did not change the election, but it created questions about the reliability of the M650 system. Mitchell school board candidate Craig Guymon, who ran a distant third in the race for two available seats on the board, filed a complaint with the First Judicial Circuit Court in Mitchell on June 15, contesting the results of the school board election. Guymon said he doesn’t trust the inconsistent ballot counts generated by the M650 and asked the court for a hand count of ballots or a new election. Davison County Auditor Susan Kiepke said Tuesday that ES&S will not examine the county’s M650 computer logs for problems until the lawsuit is settled.

South Dakota: The ES&S M650 – A ballot machine noted for problems | The Daily Republic

It’s unknown at this time if human or computer error caused the June 5 ballot counting problems at the Davison County Courthouse, but it’s not the first time an Election Systems & Software M650 ballot scanner has been involved in election irregularities. The group VotersUnite.org has posted lists of nationwide ballot system problems on its website. The group alleges that miscounts and errors have become commonplace with ballot scanners including the M650. Its site lists numerous instances of voting system problems going back nearly a decade. In Mitchell, a June 7 recount prior to the official canvass of ballots showed that ballot totals from the M650 were higher on June 5 than they should have been. The recount did not change the election, but it created questions about the reliability of the M650 system. Mitchell school board candidate Craig Guymon, who ran a distant third in the race for two available seats on the board, filed a complaint with the First Judicial Circuit Court in Mitchell on June 15, contesting the results of the school board election. Guymon said he doesn’t trust the inconsistent ballot counts generated by the M650 and asked the court for a hand count of ballots or a new election. Davison County Auditor Susan Kiepke said Tuesday that ES&S will not examine the county’s M650 computer logs for problems until the lawsuit is settled.

National: Tens of thousands of service members’ votes not counted | TheState.com

Tens of thousands of military service members attempting to vote by absentee ballot in recent years haven’t had their votes counted because of various problems with the system, according to authorities that track voter participation. The Military Voter Protection Project, an organization founded by a Navy Reserve member who previously was a Justice Department lawyer, is promoting efforts to ensure that the votes of all military members are counted. “The problem has always existed, given the high degree of mobility of our fighting forces,” said Eric Eversole, founder and executive director of the Military Voter Protection Project, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. But the issue is a bigger concern during a presidential election year with a military force totaling more than 3 million, including active-duty and reserve forces.

Florida: State moves to block voter-registration group | MiamiHerald.com

State officials are considering ways to stop a Washington nonprofit from sending any more registration forms to voters. By their own estimate, officials with a Washington nonprofit have registered 200,000 voters in Florida the past eight years. This year, the same group, the Voter Participation Center, has mailed another 420,000 registration forms to residents hoping to enlist more. But state officials are considering ways to stop the center from sending any more registration forms, which the state calls confusing. “We have contacted the organization, expressed our very serious concern that they are misleading voters, offered to provide them the complaints sent to the department about their mailings, and asked that they make a concerted effort to improve their lists so that only eligible voters who aren’t registered are being contacted,” Chris Cate, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office said in an email to the Times. The objections come as the state has made other moves to block greater access to the ballot box.

Indiana: Lake County commissioner vote recount reaches third day | Dyer News

The 3rd District Lake County commissioner recount moved Wednesday from machine to paper balloting. The court-appointed, three-member recount commission finished inspecting 374 electronic voting machines used to tally votes cast in the Democratic primary for the race between North Township Board member Richard J. Novak and County Councilman Michael Repay. Novak is challenging the declaration of Repay as the official winner by 74 votes.

Minnesota: High court ruling throws state campaign law into doubt | StarTribune.com

With the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirming the rights of corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money, Minnesota's restrictions on corporate donations could hang on a pending appeals court ruling. Two advocacy groups and a business challenging the Minnesota law say the state's limits reach beyond the Supreme Court's intent. On Monday, the nation's highest court struck down Montana's 100-year-old ban on corporate money in politics, a ruling consistent with the Citizens United decision that paved the way for unlimited corporate spending in federal elections as long as the money is independent of the campaign it is intended to help. In response to that ruling, Minnesota's campaign finance law was revised by the Legislature in 2010 to allow for unlimited corporate contributions. But the state also requires donors to funnel those contributions through political action committees that must file disclosure reports, a condition that quickly drew a legal challenge.

Minnesota: High court ruling throws state campaign law into doubt | StarTribune.com

With the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirming the rights of corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money, Minnesota's restrictions on corporate donations could hang on a pending appeals court ruling. Two advocacy groups and a business challenging the Minnesota law say the state's limits reach beyond the Supreme Court's intent. On Monday, the nation's highest court struck down Montana's 100-year-old ban on corporate money in politics, a ruling consistent with the Citizens United decision that paved the way for unlimited corporate spending in federal elections as long as the money is independent of the campaign it is intended to help. In response to that ruling, Minnesota's campaign finance law was revised by the Legislature in 2010 to allow for unlimited corporate contributions. But the state also requires donors to funnel those contributions through political action committees that must file disclosure reports, a condition that quickly drew a legal challenge.

Minnesota: Secretary of State asks for Supreme Court decision on voter ID by Aug. 27 | StarTribune.com

The state officials charged with preparing ballots for the Nov. 6 general election need to know whether the proposed photo ID amendment will be on the ballot, and in what form. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, in response to a query from the state Supreme Court, told Chief Justice Lorie Gildea that the state needs a final decision in the photo ID case by Aug 27. He added that it "would be ideal" to have the ruling by Aug. 21. The Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to the language of the proposed photo ID constitutional amendment, which is scheduled to go to voters for a decision in November. The League of Women Voters argues that the ballot question voters will see is misleading and does not fully describe the changes proposed for the constitution. Amendment supporters say the language is a fair description, and that the Legislature has wide latitude to write such ballot questions.

Montana: Judge upholds Montana law forbidding political endorsement of judicial candidates | The Missoulian

A federal judge Tuesday refused to block Montana’s law forbidding political parties from endorsing a nonpartisan judicial candidate, saying their involvement could transform judicial contests into partisan races. U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell of Helena said Montana clearly has an interest in maintaining a fair, impartial judiciary – and that keeping political parties out of judicial elections might be allowed to achieve that goal. “If … political parties were permitted to endorse nonpartisan judicial candidates, then the elections might be nonpartisan only in form,” he wrote. “Nonpartisan elections, perhaps, can truly be nonpartisan only if political parties are prohibited from endorsing candidates.”

New Hampshire: Legislature overrides Lynch veto on voter ID | Union Leader

In another significant accomplishment for the Republican-controlled Legislature, the Senate and House on Wednesday passed a law requiring people to present photo identification when voting, while adopting a last-minute amendment meant to ease concerns expressed by voting officials ahead of the November elections. The Senate voted 18-5 to override the governor’s veto of Senate Bill 289, which will require voters this November to show a photo ID or sign an affidavit. The House passed the bill 231-112. Both votes exceeded the two-thirds margin necessary for a veto override. The last-minute change concerned the kind of affidavit required of voters who do not have acceptable identification in this year’s elections. The Senate voted to reintroduce a bill it had tabled earlier in the session, House Bill 1354, and amend it to change all references to a “qualified voter affidavit” in SB 289 to “challenged voter affidavit.”

New Hampshire: Voter ID law passes by wide margin | NEWS06

The Legislature has passed a law requiring people to present photo identification when voting, while adopting a last-minute amendment meant to ease concerns expressed by voting officials ahead of the November elections. The Senate voted 18-5 on Wednesday to override the governor's veto of Senate Bill 289, which will require voters this November to show a photo ID or sign an affidavit. The House passed the bill 231 -112. Both votes exceeded the two-thirds margin necessary for a veto override.

New Hampshire: Voter ID law passes by wide margin | NEWS06

The Legislature has passed a law requiring people to present photo identification when voting, while adopting a last-minute amendment meant to ease concerns expressed by voting officials ahead of the November elections. The Senate voted 18-5 on Wednesday to override the governor's veto of Senate Bill 289, which will require voters this November to show a photo ID or sign an affidavit. The House passed the bill 231 -112. Both votes exceeded the two-thirds margin necessary for a veto override.

North Dakota: Recount planned for District 28 GOP primary | The Jamestown Sun

The Republican primary race in District 28 will have to go to an automatic recount to see who will run for the North Dakota House of Representatives, according to the State Canvassing Board. Jim Silrum, North Dakota deputy secretary of state, said if the difference in vote totals between two candidates is less than 1 percent of the highest vote cast for a candidate for that office, an automatic recount is required. “Almost every election promotes the possibility of a recount, especially in small cities for races like city offices,” Silrum said. “However, the fact that it’s happening in a legislative district primary is certainly not unprecedented.” Ballots cast in six counties — Dickey, McIntosh, LaMoure, Logan, Burleigh and Emmons — will now be recounted beginning Thursday at 9 a.m. and continuing until Monday at 2 p.m.

South Carolina: GOP runoff in state Senate race headed for recount | The Republic

The Republican primary runoff election in a Greenville County state Senate race will go to a recount, as unofficial results Tuesday show that only 36 votes separate candidates Ross Turner and Joe Swann. The voting was not as close in Tuesday night's two other legislative runoff elections, however. Tony Barwick won the Republican nomination in State Senate District 35 and MaryGail Douglas captured the Democratic nod in State House of Representatives District 41. Under South Carolina law, a recount in an election is mandatory if the difference between the winner and second-place finisher is less than one percent. With all of the votes counted, Turner had 2,784 votes, or 50.33 percent, and Swann had 2,748 votes, or 49.67 percent.

Utah: Ballot boo-boo raises security questions | Herald Extra

A state senator from Utah County spent much of Election Day trying to sort out a problem with early-voting ballots. It seems the Utah County Clerk's Office mistakenly mailed duplicate ballots to a number of registered voters, raising questions about how the early-voting process was being managed and how to prevent multiple votes from one person. Sen. Curt Bramble on Tuesday evening told the Daily Herald that duplicate ballots had been mailed through a private fulfillment company using mailing lists provided by the county. Each ballot had a unique serial number, which means that each was legal tender for voting purposes. That raises the question of control. Were any safeguards in place to prevent someone from voting twice?

Texas: State Republican Party Platform Calls For Repeal Of Voting Rights Act Of 1965 | Huffington Post

The Texas Republican Party has released its official platform for 2012, and the repeal of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one of its central planks. "We urge that the Voter Rights Act of 1965 codified and updated in 1973 be repealed and not reauthorized," the platform reads. Under a provision of the Voting Rights Act, certain jurisdictions must obtain permission from the federal government -- called "preclearance" -- before they change their voting rules. The rule was put in place in jurisdictions with a history of voter disenfranchisement. Some elected officials, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, have since argued that the rules put an unfair burden on certain places and not others. Texas is one of nine states that must obtain preclearance before changing its electoral guidelines. The declaration by the state's GOP comes as Texas continues protracted fights over voting rights on several legal fronts. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder blocked the state's recent voter I.D. law, citing discrimination against minority voters. And a federal judge earlier this month heard motions in a lawsuit filed by Project Vote, a voting rights group that tries to expand voting in low-income communities, that claimed the state's laws made it illegally difficult to register new voters.

Texas: State Republican Party Platform Calls For Repeal Of Voting Rights Act Of 1965 | Huffington Post

The Texas Republican Party has released its official platform for 2012, and the repeal of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one of its central planks. "We urge that the Voter Rights Act of 1965 codified and updated in 1973 be repealed and not reauthorized," the platform reads. Under a provision of the Voting Rights Act, certain jurisdictions must obtain permission from the federal government -- called "preclearance" -- before they change their voting rules. The rule was put in place in jurisdictions with a history of voter disenfranchisement. Some elected officials, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, have since argued that the rules put an unfair burden on certain places and not others. Texas is one of nine states that must obtain preclearance before changing its electoral guidelines. The declaration by the state's GOP comes as Texas continues protracted fights over voting rights on several legal fronts. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder blocked the state's recent voter I.D. law, citing discrimination against minority voters. And a federal judge earlier this month heard motions in a lawsuit filed by Project Vote, a voting rights group that tries to expand voting in low-income communities, that claimed the state's laws made it illegally difficult to register new voters.