Justice Department Called Upon in MS Electoral Shenanigan-gate

But given the utterly despicable politicization of Justice during the Bush administration, I don't place much hope in American justice any longer. But anyway, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has asked the Justice Department to block Haley from breaking the law with his rigged ballot:

A top congressional Democrat asked the Justice Department Tuesday to block Mississippi's Republican governor from putting a special election for Trent Lott's old Senate seat near the bottom of the November ballot.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said it was a "blatant violation" of the Voting Rights Act for Gov. Haley Barbour to separate the special election from other federal races, including a regular election for Mississippi's other U.S. Senate seat.

"The Mississippi governor does not get to change the rules when the race is not going his way," Conyers, of Michigan, said in a news release...

The Justice Department will consider Conyers' request after the Mississippi Supreme Court rules on a Democratic lawsuit challenging the ballot, spokeswoman Jamie Hais said.

Because of Mississippi's history of racial discrimination, the department must clear any election changes to protect minorities' voting rights. Conyers contends putting the special election at the bottom of the ballot is such a change...

...Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green on Friday ordered Barbour to move the race higher. Barbour's appeal to the state Supreme Court was pending Tuesday.

Barbour — a former Republican National Committee chairman — moved Wicker from north Mississippi's U.S. House seat to temporarily fill Lott's Senate seat until the special election. One of the governor's nephews is managing Wicker's campaign. Musgrove is a former governor who lost his re-election race to Barbour in 2003.