On July 22, nine U.S. Senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, introduced S.3308, to require the Veterans Administration to permit voter registration drives in its facilities. The VA operates 155 medical centers, 135 nursing homes, 717 ambulatory care and outpatient clinics, 45 residential rehabilitation programs, and 289 nonmedical vet centers. Voter registration activities are prohibited in all of them.

Earlier this month, Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz and Connecticut’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal were turned away from the doors of a VA facility in Connecticut, when they wished to enter to register residents of that facility.

Senator Reid said, “We must make it as easy as possible for all people to vote”, when he co-sponsored the bill. Reid seldom co-sponsors bills. The lead sponsors are Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.). The other co-sponsors are Hillary Clinton, Patrick Leahy, Patty Murray, Barack Obama, Charles Schumer, and Ron Wyden, all Democrats. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for this news.

On July 22, the Ohio Republican Party finally let it be known that it will nominate a candidate for Attorney General, in this November’s special election. He is D. Michael Crites. The Democrats already chose their nominee, State Treasurer Richard Cordray. The third name on the ballot is Robert Owens, state chair of the Constitution Party, who will not have any ballot label next to his name.

On July 22, the ACLU sued the Alabama Secretary of State, and county elections officials, over their arbitrary decisions over which crimes are serious enough to cause disenfranchisement of ex-felons. The Alabama Constitution says persons convicted of “moral turpitude” may not be registered, but no one knows which crimes that term includes. The lawsuit also attacks a state policy that awards a “voting pardon” on completion of a sentence, but only permits this pardon if that person paid all pending fines and restitution orders. The case is Baker v Chapman, state court, Montgomery.