The Voting News Daily: Supreme Court’s Montana decision strengthens Citizens United, Canadian court hears motions on overturning elections because of robocalls

National: Supreme Court’s Montana decision strengthens Citizens United | The Washington Post The Supreme Court has struck down a Montana ban on corporate political money, ruling 5 to 4 that the controversial 2010 Citizens United ruling applies to state and local elections. The court broke in American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock along the same lines as in…

The Voting News Daily: With Elections Awash in Cash, There’s Plenty of Blame to Go Around, Election Policy Decisions Cost New York City, North Carolina Big Bucks

National: With Elections Awash in Cash, There’s Plenty of Blame to Go Around | NYTimes.com David Axelrod, President Obama’s political strategist, recently invoked a common perception about the 2012 campaign by blaming the Supreme Court for empowering 21st-century “robber barons trying to take over the government.” But that explanation does not account for another development that…

The Voting News Daily: Left girds for voting rights battle, Hacking the vote

National: Left girds for voting rights battle | Politico.com Democrats, labor unions and civil rights groups are convinced Republicans are scheming to steal the election from President Barack Obama by suppressing the liberal vote, and they’re girding for battle. Groups on the left are spending more than they have in any previous election to lawyer up,…

The Voting News Daily: White House responds to petition on replacing FEC commissioners, Texts Could Draw Small Donations

National: White House responds to petition on replacing FEC commissioners | The Hill The White House on Friday responded to a petition from watchdog groups calling for the replacement of five Federal Election Commission (FEC) commissioners before the 2012 election, but declined to comment on either a timeline or possible candidates. Ten campaign finance reform groups…

The Voting News Daily: Indianapolis Meeting Compares Voting Machine Standards, Fannie Lou Who? Why Voting Rights Still Matter

National: Indianapolis Meeting Compares Voting Machine Standards | Indiana Public Media State election officials from more than a dozen states are in Indianapolis to compare notes on voting machines. The controversy over “hanging chads” in the Florida presidential vote prompted Congress in 2002 to order the states to make the transition to optical-scan and touch-screen…

The Voting News Daily: Fixing Citizens United, Who Benefits From Text Message Donations?

Editorials: Fixing Citizens United | Geoffrey R. Stone/Huffington Post Any intelligent person following American politics these days should be deeply distressed by the ever-growing role of big money in our electoral process. The extraordinary concentration of wealth in the hands of relatively few Americans has completely distorted the nature of political discourse. As multi-millionaires, billionaires…

The Voting News Daily: The Uniqueness Of The 2012 Election, Super PAC Mania

Editorials: The Uniqueness Of The 2012 Election | NPR All U.S. presidential elections “are unique in some fashion,” says John G. Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University. Sure, but what about 2012? What exactly will make the 2012 election between President Obama and Mitt Romney truly unique? For one thing, though the candidates have many…

The Voting News Daily: Restrictive voting laws tied up in court, Investors Demand Disclosure on Companies’ Political Spending

National: Restrictive voting laws tied up in court | The Washington Post Stricter ID laws and other controversial voting restrictions, passed this year by several Republican-controlled legislatures, are hitting legal roadblocks that could keep many of the measures from taking effect before the November elections. Curbs on early voting, new ID requirements and last-minute efforts to…

The Voting News Daily: Walker makes history surviving recall election, Federal Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act Introduced

Wisconsin: Walker makes history surviving recall election | Reuters Wisconsin’s Scott Walker became the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election on Tuesday in a decisive victory that dealt a blow to the labor movement and raised Republican hopes of defeating President Barack Obama in the November election. Unions and liberal activists forced…

The Voting News Daily: Battles Over Voter ID Laws Intensify, When Did Conservatives Change Their Mind About Campaign Finance Disclosure?

National: Battles Over Voter ID Laws Intensify | NPR As both parties turn to the general election, and the potentially pivotal role of minority voters, battles over voter identification and other new state election laws are intensifying. Voting rights groups, who say the new laws discriminate against minority voters, won a key victory Thursday with a…

The Voting News Daily: Citizens: Speech, no consequences, Edwards case may have little effect on campaign finance

Editorials: Citizens: Speech, no consequences | Richard L. Hasen/Politico.com You’ve got to feel bad for the rich and powerful in America. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a variety of big business groups say if Congress goes back to letting the American people know who is behind campaign attack ads, businesses will face the “palpable” threat of “retaliation” and “reprisals.” Former Federal…

The Voting News Daily: FEC releases election law documents after subpoena threat, Supreme Court should let Voting Rights Act ruling stand

National: FEC releases election law documents after subpoena threat | Politico.com Responding to the threat of a congressional subpoena, the Federal Election Commission this afternoon released reams of previously secret documents that detail how it enforces election law. It appears to end — for the moment — a months-long row between the House Administration Committee and…