It's rare to see a Congressional committee given a standing ovation after a markup vote - but that's what happened in a packed Senate committee room this morning.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed the DC House Voting Rights bill (S. 1257) by a vote of 9-1, with three Republicans voting YES  (Collins, Coleman, Voinovich).   This was the latest step forward for this legislation, which was first introduced in the 108th Congress.  The bill gives DC a permanent voting representative in the House and also adds another House seat, which will go to Utah.  That bipartisan formula has brought some Republicans onto the bill and has been key to getting it this far.  The next step is getting enough Republicans to avoid a filibuster and then bringing it to the Senate floor, hopefully later this summer.

The DC Voting Rights bill - HR 1433 - is moving along on the greased track laid out by the Dem leadership in the House.  Expect a floor vote week of March 26th.

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the consitutionality of the bill March 14.  Jonathan Turley, the ubiquitous media quote-meister, was the designated constitutional scold for the Repubs.  I am not a lawyer, but I find the constitutional quibbling frustrating.  What in the Constitution (amended) contemplates disenfranchising a large group of Americans?  If Congress figures out a way to accomplish this goal (thank you Tom Davis) the courts should accept it and brush aside the theoretical legal doomsday scenarios sketched out by opponents.

Judiciary is voting today on the bill.  Hope the Dems show up in greater numbers than they did at the hearing.  The Repub opponents outnumbered Dem supporters throughout the hearing.  DC residents at the hearing stood in silence at one point -- c'mon Dems, the city votes 90%+ for you!  Show up and vote.

Barb Burt of Common Cause has written this piece connecting the US Attorneys ouster scandal with efforts to pass voter suppression laws under the guise of preventing "voter fraud":

Read more...

Common Cause's voter hotline, 1-866-MyVote1 is getting calls, a lot from PA, IN, OH.  We also just finished a tele-conference with reporters. One, from Computer World, noted that he had problems on eSlate machines this morning in Lancaster County, PA.  We're checking it out further.  More to come.

Here's a report from our TX office: