user: News: Activists in Washington mark the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to alter the Voting Rights Act.

Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of "Cooking With Grease: Stirring the Pots in America." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- As a longtime political operative, I know firsthand how a vote here or a vote there can make a huge difference in a close election. And as Vice President Al Gore's former campaign manager, I understand the impact U.S. Supreme Court decisions can have on electoral outcomes.

These two reasons are why I'm outraged by what's going on in Ohio.

This week, the Supreme Court, on the eve of early voting, ruled that efforts by Ohio Republicans to restrict early voting days were acceptable. This gets rid of what's called the Golden Week in Ohio -- the period when voters can register and cast their ballot at the same time.

It ended convenient voting hours, when Ohioans could vote after a long day at work -- as late as 9 p.m. It also ended voting on one of the two Sundays before Election Day when many folks head to their polling place after church. These have been hallmarks of the Ohio voting system, but the Supreme Court and Republicans have yet again changed the rules in the middle of the game -- all to create barriers between people and the ballot box.

And unfortunately it's not just Ohio where Republicans have doggedly tried to restrict or cut early voting days or hours. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP have reduced and limited the early voting period, including weekend voting. In North Carolina, the Republican governor and legislature took away a week of early voting. And in Georgia, a GOP legislator lamented a county's move to expand early voting, saying he would "prefer more educated voters" over black early voters.

Think this doesn't have any real impact? Think again. In 2012, a third of voters cast a ballot before Election Day, in person or by mail -- more than double the rate during the 2000 election. All told, more than 18 million voters cast an early in-person ballot when President Obama was re-elected.

Voting shouldn't be a challenge. It should be as easy and accessible as possible. We shouldn't require forms of ID that folks don't have, we shouldn't restrict days or hours that allow working people a chance to both do their job and exercise their democratic right, and we damn well shouldn't be throwing up new obstacles midstream.

When obstacles are thrown up, we should have protections for voters. That's why I was so frustrated when the Supreme Court last summer gutted the Voting Rights Act in Shelby v. Holder.

The Supreme Court ruled that there's no need for national oversight when localities and states with a history of racially discriminatory voting laws make voting rule changes. I'm not alone with my frustration. A recent poll from Lake Research and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights found that nationally, 69% of the American public favors restoring the VRA, with only 10% opposing.

Voters of both parties, all races, and every region across the country favor a congressional proposal to restore the Voting Rights Act. I'm hopeful that Republicans and Democrats will, in the lame duck session after the 2014 elections or in the beginning of the next session of Congress, hammer out legislation that restores oversight and protects voters.

As Democrats, we believe in giving every eligible citizen the opportunity to vote -- whether it's early because they can't take off work on Election Day or absentee because they might have plans to be out of town. And we believe this for two reasons. First, when more people vote, Democrats win. That's because more Americans agree with us on the big issues and the big questions -- like who's got my back? But second, it's because our democracy is better when more people have skin in the game. Our democracy relies on participation and we've never done better by excluding folks.

If there's one thing we can count on, it's that the GOP is going to continue to come up with last minute schemes to make it more complicated, more confusing, or just plain more difficult for honest, hardworking citizens to vote on Election Day or before. It's up to us to stop them.

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Title: Supreme Court wrong to curb Ohio early voting (Opinion)


News: Bute is an anti- inflammatory used to control pain. It is injected intravenously and can contribute to gastric ulcers.

A longtime racetrack remedy; an estrogen-based hormone used to prevent pulmonary hemorrhaging while running.

A very potent anti-inflammatory that acts quicker than phenylbutazone.

A synthetic joint fluid that replaces degraded joint fluid. It improves a horse’s range of motion and reduces swelling.

A diuretic given four hours before races; flushes the system of water and reduces blood pressure to prevent pulmonary hemorrhaging.

A synthetic replacement for cartilage to combat the wear and tear of running.

A sedative injected in a horse’s neck to calm it before injecting the stifle joints in the hind legs.

Commonly administered four or six hours before a race to calm a horse.

A powerful cortisone usually shot in the joints to battle arthritis and degenerative joint disease.

Another intravenous injection usually administered to keep a horse calm and composed.

Title: One Horse, One Week of Injections


News: 2d 18h ago By Chip Cutter and David K. Randall, AP Business Writers

Stocks were mixed Wednesday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level in 2 1/2 years, after protests in Egypt became more violent.

Unrest in Egypt could have a profound impact on the Pentagon's efforts in the Middle East, analysts say.

Oil prices soared past a key threshold of $100 a barrel Monday amid fears that violence in Egypt could disrupt the flow of oil.

The unrest in Egypt is threatening its tourism sector, a pillar of the economy that brings in billions a year and is a crucial income source.

Energy stocks led indexes higher Monday on the first day of trading since the growing unrest in Egypt sent stocks to their biggest one-day drop in more than three months.

USA TODAY reporter Joan Biskupic explains why the turmoil in Egypt is of such concern to the United States.

An Egyptian man set himself on fire Monday outside the country's parliament building in central Cairo in an apparent protest, security officials said.

The 1,380-passenger Amsterdam's seventh circumnavigation of the world will kick of Jan. 6, 2012.

Title: Suez Canal Topics Page


News: Federal officials did not permit testing of the Obamacare healthcare.gov website or issue final system requirements until four to six days before its Oct. 1 launch, according to an individual with direct knowledge of the project.

The individual, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the troubled Obamacare website project as suffering from top-level management disarray, changing systems requirements and recurring delays.

The root cause of the problems was a pivotal decision by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officials to act as systems integrator, the central coordinator for the entire program. Usually this role is reserved for the prime information technology contractor.

As a result, full testing of the site was delayed until four to six days before the fateful Oct. 1 launch of the health care exchanges, the individual said.

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Title:

assistant: Troubled Obamacare website wasn't tested until a week before launch