Voting rights groups and Department of Justice officials are as puzzled as I am why financially strapped local governments throughout Virginia are not seeking a bailout under the Voting Rights Act. After all, last year the U.S. Supreme Court opened the bailout door as wide as it could while leaving the Voting Rights Act intact.

Floridians' chance to curb partisan gerrymanders is once again in the hands of the Florida Supreme Court. After decades of partisan abuse of the redistricting process, citizens simply want the chance to vote on two ballot initiatives to end the practice that for decades has enabled politicians to choose their voters instead of voters choosing politicians. But politicians aren't about to give up that advantage without a fight — and that fight is now before the state's highest court.

The Society for Scholarly Publishing takes a look at the DISCLOSE Act with a blog post that begins: “While the notion that information wants to be free has driven many movements around government-financed data and research, it pays to remember that covert political maneuvering and paying for influence are as old as civilization. And some of these forces don’t want information to be free. When some of the most well-funded corporations and interest groups also have a commercial stake in supporting transparency, you have all the ingredients for a real battle.”

Opponents have insistently but unfairly maintained that the DISCLOSE Act favors unions over corporations. In fact, both are treated equally.