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A Wisconsin judge ruled Monday that state law does not allow the use of mobile absentee voting sites, siding with Republicans who had challenged the city of Racine's use of a voting van that traveled around the city in 2022. Republicans opposed the use of the van, the only one of its kind in Wisconsin, saying its use was against the law, increased the chances of voter fraud and was used to bolster Democratic turnout. Racine officials, the Democratic National Committee and the Milwaukee-based voting advocacy group Black Leaders Organizing for Communities refuted those claims and defended the legality of...

Polls just closed in Atlantic Canada. Post results here.

"CAN I INTEREST YOU IN A HIZBALLAH-SUPPORTING SOCIAL NETWORK?" SNIPPET: "Once upon a time there was a place called Lebanon. When Hizballah is done with it it'll look a whole lot like Germany circa 1945. If Shiite expats in Montreal and elsewhere want to call that "victory" that's their business." SNIPPET: "6. Wash, rinse, repeat. This is online counter-terrorism in the social-networking age."

MOSCOW. May 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are jointly forming a major military grouping in Central Asia capable of rebuffing large-scale aggression, spokesman for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Vitaly Strugovets said. "The CSTO's Central Asian grouping is intended to fight so-called large wars, not to deal with local conflicts the collective rapid deployment forces are meant for," he said. The grouping will encompass tank, artillery and air units of five states, as well as Russia and Kazakhstan's Caspian naval forces, Strugovets told Interfax-AVN on Friday. The Collective Rapid Reaction Forces, which have existed in...

In the past two years, community organizations across the United States mobilized like never before to help Latinos become citizens, register to vote and go to the polls. Now, many of these organizations plan to use that structure to advance the interests of Latinos on issues such as the economy, education and immigration. “The work has just begun,” said David Valladolid, who headed regional efforts to establish Viva Obama clubs and form a coalition with San Diego County's African-American population. The National Association of Latino Elected Officials worked with Spanish-language media and community groups in a get-out-the-vote effort, and it...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc rejoined the Shi'ite-led government on Saturday in a breakthrough for national reconciliation after parliament approved its candidates for several vacant ministerial posts. Getting the Accordance Front to return after it quit a year ago in a row over power sharing has been seen as key to healing divisions between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. Sunni Arabs have little voice in the current cabinet, which is dominated by Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds. "Today, parliament voted to accept our candidates ... This means the Accordance Front has officially returned to the government," a...

Asean members hope to adopt the charter formally later this year Ministers from South-East Asian countries have reached agreement on a landmark draft charter. The document gives the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) a set of binding rules for the first time in the bloc's 40-year existence. The agreement comes after nearly two years of deliberations among members. It includes a contentious provision to set up a commission monitoring human rights in the region - despite strong misgivings from some Asean countries. Credibility boost With governments in the region running the gamut from fully-fledged democracies to a military...

The Israeli ambassador is taking Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe to task for participating in a pro-Hezbollah rally. Alan Baker has written a sharply worded letter to Duceppe, saying the Aug. 6 march in Montreal was a glorification of Hezbollah, which Canada considers to be a terrorist group. Liberal MP Denis Coderre also marched, but Baker aimed his complaint at Duceppe, a party leader. The ambassador says he has no problem with demonstrations or with people expressing their opinions, but he says glorifying Hezbollah is wrong.

OTTAWA -- The Liberals and the Conservatives both have an equal chance of forming a government in the wake of a RCMP investigation that has dented Liberal support, suggests a new poll. The survey by Decima Research pegged Liberal support at 32 per cent of those who are likely to vote, compared to 30 per cent who said they intend to back the Conservatives. Given the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, the two parties are in a statistical dead heat. New Democrats are backed by 18 per cent of the 1,020 respondents to a telephone survey between...

The Canadian House hits Paul Martin with a vote of no confidence, paving the way for Tory Stephen Harper.The House condemns the government for its arrogance in refusing to compromise with the opposition parties over the timing of the next general election and for its "culture of entitlement," corruption, scandal and gross abuse of public funds for political purposes and, consequently, the government no longer has the confidence of the House. --The Canadian House of Commons November 28, 2005    THOSE WORDS ended the reign of embattled Canadian Liberal party leader Paul Martin over a presumably outraged Canadian electorate. Canada's...

Our next PM: Stephen Harper Andrew Coyne National Post (Editorial) Thursday, November 17, 2005 I wonder if anyone fully realizes what happened last weekend. The political ground has just shifted beneath our feet, even if the tremors are not felt until after the election. Which is to say: Sunday's agreement among the three opposition leaders has not just put an end to this government. It has also chosen the next. Jack Layton has just made Stephen Harper the next prime minister. The NDP leader's decision to break with the Liberals would be momentous enough in its own right. It...

<p>Hispanics are poised to emerge as an influential voting force in the United States, observers say, especially now that two southwestern states are playing an earlier role in the presidential nominating process.</p> <p>More than 35 million Hispanics live in the United States, according to Census Bureau figures. Nearly 2.7 million reside in the seven states holding primaries or caucuses Tuesday, the first day of multistate elections for Democrats seeking their party's nomination.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — Hispanics who have traditionally pulled Democratic levers at the polling booth since the most recent wave of immigration in the last half century, are deciding that they no longer want to be viewed as one monolithic voting bloc, and warn Democrats that Republicans are increasingly speaking their language.</p>