These bills are not a sincere effort to prevent noncitizens from voting; that is a made-up problem. The real aim is to reduce turnout by eligible voters. Republicans seem to think that laws of this kind will help them win elections, but burdensome rules like these — and others cropping up around the country — pose a serious threat to democracy and should be stopped.

The measure would allow far more rigorous demands than the voter ID requirement recently upheld by the Supreme Court, in which voters had to prove their identity with a government-issued card.

Sponsors of the amendment — which requires the approval of voters to go into effect, possibly in an August referendum — say it is part of an effort to prevent illegal immigrants from affecting the political process. Critics say the measure could lead to the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of legal residents who would find it difficult to prove their citizenship.

12:30 p.m. -- Clerk: Voters better get in line soon

If you haven't voted yet, Marion County Clerk Beth White offered this advice just before noon: Go now.

"I'd recommend they get there right now, bring their ID and prepare to be patient," White said during a news conference in the clerk's office.

Some people are going to the wrong polling sites; others can't find their names on voter registration lists. Still others don't have the proper ID. The fallback for these voters is often something called a provisional ballot. But those votes do not always count.

VoterAction's John Bonifaz Testifies: 'Growing Influence by Private Companies in How We Conduct Elections Puts Democracy at Serious Risk'...

In what may be a first nationally, Wisconsin is considering forgoing federal certification of a new vote-counting device and testing it itself in an effort to simplify and speed the tallying of votes in November, the state's top election official says.

The device, known as HAAT for Hybrid Accumulator Activator Transmitter, consolidates totals from the electronic touch-screen voting machines and the optical scanners that read paper ballots, spitting out a single tally - a step local election officials say could significantly speed voter returns on election night.

Efforts to improve the machinery that will count the 2008 presidential vote fell prey to a classic Washington compromise on Wednesday, when a House committee approved a bill giving money to both opponents and supporters of controversial paperless electronic voting systems.

The "Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008," or H.R. 5036, now goes to the House floor, where its goal is helping cities and counties create a "verifiable" paper trail and audits for individual votes cast for president and Congress.

The allegation is in a lawsuit the technician filed as a "whistleblower" against his former employer, Hart InterCivic Inc., which he says has a research and development office in Lafayette.

William Singer alleges that Hart InterCivic lied to election officials around the country about the reliability of its voting system in an effort to obtain federal money allocated to the states under the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

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