As noted earlier, a bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 16, to restore the federal Voting Rights Act with a new coverage formula to replace the one struck down last year by the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill, HR 3899, is sponsored by James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin). The eight co-sponsors include three Republicans and six Democrats. The three Republicans are Spencer Bachus of Alabama, Steve Chabot of Ohio, and Sean Duffy of Wisconsin. The five Democrats are John Conyers of Michigan, John Lewis of Georgia, Bobby Scott of Virginia, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

The identical Senate bill is S.1945. It is sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), and co-sponsored by Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ilinois) and Christoper Coons (D-Delaware).

The Republican National Committee meets January 23-24 in Washington, D.C. See NBC’s First Read article at this link (scroll down to the third item, “RNC to Consider Changes to 2016 Calendar.” The party will decide whether to hold its 2016 national convention in either June or July, which would be a substantial change from 2012, when its convention was in September. The party will also decide whether to require that presidential primaries all be held before 35 days, or 45 days, before the convention.

If the party chooses June, and especially if it then chooses 45 days, it could no longer use its presidential primaries in New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico, and South Dakota, unless it can persuade state legislatures in those states to hold earlier presidential primaries. Under current law, those states hold their presidential primaries in June.

A U.S. District Court in Kansas will hold a two-day trial starting February 11, Tuesday, in Kobach v U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 5:13cv-4095. The issue is whether Kansas and Arizona can require voters in their states who use the federal voter registration form to attach proof of citizenship beyond a signature under penalty of perjury.

The trial will probably produce interesting evidence about whether it is rare or not for a dishonest individual to impersonate someone else at the polls.