Yesterday the attention of the Judiciary Committee was turned to an issue of paramount importance in the waning days of the 110th Congress--ensuring the fairness of this fall's elections. The Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing on "Lessons Learned from the 2004 Election," which included testimony from former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Hans von Spakovsky. Much to my disappointment, however, the Department of Justice did not send a representative to testify at today's hearing. This was despite the assurances the Attorney General gave [1] at his appearance before the Committee this Wednesday that making sure the November 4 elections run smoothly is one of his top priorities. The Department's engagement and cooperation is crucial--- so that we are not only learning the lessons of voter disenfranchisement from past elections, but applying them to the preparations for 2008. For more on today's hearing, Bradblog.com has this story [2].

We in the Judiciary Committee are not the only ones focusing on voting rights this week, however. The New York Times also ran this editorial [3] about the need for reforms and new regulations regarding ballot design. The editorial responds to a report released by the Brennan Center on ballot design throughout the country, which claims that "eight years after the 2000 election, and billions of dollars spent on new voting technology, the problems caused by poor ballot design have not been fully and effectively addressed on a national level. Year in and year out, we see the same mistakes in ballot design, with the same results: tens, and sometimes hundreds, of thousands of voters disenfranchised by confusing ballot design and instructions, sometimes raising serious questions about whether the intended choice of the voters was certi?ed as the winner." You can find the full report here. [4]