After being poked and prodded by the Mitt Romney campaign lawmakers in Nevada on Saturday agreed to move their GOP primary caucus from January 14 to February 4.

The announcement came after nearly half of the Republican candidate field threatened to boycott the state and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus showed up to sway Nevada Republicans into changing the date of the caucus.

Speaking about the issue GOP chairwoman Amy Tarkanian told the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

“This has become a distraction,” and ”It’s time to move forward. … We will be the good guys in the end. We don’t need to be New Hampshire’s pinata.”

Because of their compromise Nevada will get to keep their 29 RNC delegates and they will still be the first state in the West to hold a caucus following Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida

Early voting in various states has caused quite the distraction for the GOP as each state attempts to have their voice heard first. Officials in Iowa said they would hold their caucus “as early as necessary” to ensure they remain the first voice of political voting in the United States.

Do you believe that Nevada willingly changed their caucus schedule or did the power of their parties top ranking officials force their hand?

Nevada Moves GOP Primary To February 4 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Florida officials on Friday officially announced that the GOP primary in the state has been pushed to January 31. The state’s primary committee made the announcement and argued that battleground states like Florida should be heard earlier in the process.

One state senator told the St. Petersburg Times

 “This is about getting the most Floridians involved at the earliest possible time.”

Critics of the move say the early vote will end up decreasing Florida’s influence since they are likely to lose half of their delegates to the Republican National Convention for snubbing party rules.

Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn criticized the committees actions when speaking with the Orlando Sentinel:

“The state deserves whatever punishment the national party hands down.”

Strawn also announced that Iowa would vote “as early as necessary” to ensure that they retain their “first in the states” to vote position. Iowa has long been seen as the political barometer for election cycles.

Here’s the full letter Strawn published to the Politico:

“The arrogance shown by Florida’s elected leadership is disappointing, but not surprising. Equally troubling is to see this petulant behavior rewarded with our national convention. The consequences of Florida’s intransigence must be swift and severe, including the refusal by the RNC to credential or seat any member of Florida’s presidential primary date commission at the 2012 RNC convention in Tampa.

“Regarding the timing of the First in the Nation Iowa Caucuses, Iowa will remain first. Consistent with tradition, the final Iowa Caucus date will be announced once New Hampshire sets the date of its First in the Nation Primary.”

Do you think Florida should be pushing their primary around just to “be heard first.”

Florida Pushing GOP Primary Vote To Jan. 31, Could Lose Half Their Delegates is a post from: The Inquisitr

Crossing the aisle, I think we nailed it.

[via]

The Party of Everyone is a post from: The Inquisitr

Do you rent or otherwise not own the place in which you live? (With parents, your children, a partner…)

If the leader of the Tea Party Nation had his way, you wouldn’t be allowed to vote. No, seriously. During a conservative radio program a few weeks back, Judson Phillips said that he doesn’t believe people who don’t own homes or land should really be allowed that right, due to a lack of “vested interest in the community.” Quote:

The Founding Fathers originally said, they put certain restrictions on who gets the right to vote. It wasn’t you were just a citizen and you got to vote. Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today. But one of those was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you’re a property owner you actually have a vested stake in the community. If you’re not a property owner, you know, I’m sorry but property owners have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community than non-property owners.

Of course, the fact that this would disenfranchise a large number of minorities, city-dwelling liberals and generally poor people probably has very little to do with Phillips’ motivation here.

[ThinkProgress via BoingBoing, Image]

Tea Party Nation leader thinks voting is just for property owners is a post from: The Inquisitr

Did you get your “I Voted” Foursquare badge today?

Over 40,000 and counting Foursquare users have checked in at polling places on Election Day 2010, earning the badge trumpeting that you’ve done your civic duty and reminding fellow users to do the same. (As polls close at varying times nationally, this number will likely fluctuate- it has jumped by nearly 10,000 check-ins in the past hour.)

If you’re curious about Foursquare voter saturation, you can head on over to elections.foursquare.com and take a look at the live stats. As of now, New York and California are leading the number of voter check-ins, with 5099 and 4315 respectively. Wyoming and Montana seem to be heading up the low end of Foursquare voter check-ins, with 16 and 15 voters checking in in those states. (Colorado amusingly is hovering at 420 voters.) 58% of voters using Foursquare to check-in at their polling place were male, and 42% were lady-voters.

If you’ve yet to vote (tsk!) you can go to elections.foursquare.com/govote for information on local polling places and interestingly, candidates’ positions on certain issues. And don’t forget to tag your check in with “#ivoted,” or your vote won’t get counted on Foursquare. Do we get an epic swarm badge for this?

40K+ Foursquare users rock the vote is a post from: The Inquisitr

As Election Day rapidly approaches, so does rampant political attack ads and web searches regarding voter registration and local polling places.

Like many things, the internet has facilitated the ease with which you can find information relating to your voter registration and local polling place. This is slightly more complex than you might initially think- when I checked my local voter registration, I found that the DMV voter records had not updated yet along with my most recent move. Had I just searched for a polling spot, I’d have been turned away at the sign-in table and my vote for Jimmy McMillan would never be recorded!

To avoid this predicament, first head over to CanIVote.org to determine whether you’re registered in your state. If you’re not registered to your local polling place, this tool will help you determine your voter registration status in general. Then you can check Vote411 to find the polling spot for your address. While you’re out voting, make sure to check in on Foursquare and shout “#ivoted” to earn the “I Voted’ badge.

Do you have any tips for finding spots or generally facilitating voting using the internet?

Tomorrow is Election Day- do you know where to vote? is a post from: The Inquisitr

“I wish [...] that Barack Obama becomes president and they don’t try to steal the election. That’s all I wish for, that’s all I want. Please, God.”

*Looks soulfully at camera* What makes this video funny is when you look past Diddy and get a glimpse of his house. . . it looks like a teenager’s bedroom. Diddy’s too busy to clean on his birthday/Election Day, and to be fair, he has been doing a lot, although his wait at the polls only took 8 minutes.

It’s Diddy’s B-Day, Now Vote Or Die is a post from: The Inquisitr

Media reports indicate a record turn out is expected this year off the back of a surge in new voter registrations, and early voting has been delivering some major numbers. Delays are expected at polling places, so timing will be everything to minimize time taken to vote.

Here’s the best places you can use to answer the following questions: voting polls times/ what time do polls open and where to vote/ voting poll locations.

Google Maps

Google has a dedicated site run jointly with the League of Women Voters that allows anyone to look up their nearest polling place, and the times the polls will open and close.

Vote411

Vote411 has a poll finder and other related election information, ideal for last minute information.

Can I Vote?

If you’re not sure if you’re registered to vote, head over to Can I Vote to confirm your details. If you’re not showing, don’t not vote, most States allow for a provisional vote where a name doesn’t appear on the roll.

Overseas Vote Foundation

Information on voting if you’re living or traveling outside of the United States

Pew Center on the States

Information on poll opening and closing times.

Go Vote Absentee

Information of voting absentee if you’re traveling within the United States

Brennan Center for Justice

Voting information for Students

Election Protection

Monitors voting problems. Place to report issues or track them as they happen.

Most of all remember: you should most definitely VOTE!

Want to get free stuff for voting, too? Check out this list of goodies up for grabs.

Election 08: Where to find voting poll locations, voting hours is a post from: The Inquisitr

I’m wondering how someone who can go n-u-t-s can also pass judgment so easily on other people, but then again, that’s the nature of the beast, isn’t it? Brooke recently took to her imaginary MySpace soapbox to call out Paris Hilton on her not-so-informed decisions:

“Only 54 percent of eligible American voters cast their ballots!!!!!! Half of them are only voting cause it’s ‘cool’ to vote for so and so…they aren’t even up to date on information. I’m personally not up to date on the facts, so I don’t wanna make a stupid choice for our country. I WANT to vote but only when I know exactly whats going on. More ppl should think like that. Paris Hilton said ‘yaaaaay go vote cause it’s cool and hott!!!!’ ….SHE WASN’T EVEN REGISTERED.”

I can imagine that Brooke has enough enemies as it is. It’s not like she’s even admitting to being a registered, aware voter herself, so perhaps she could’ve waited until that time to start firing off at other people?

Oddly enough, Brooke tells us in the next paragraph that she believes strongly in “Never gossip[ing], never feel[ing] negatively toward ANYONE.” Big, fat WTF?!: she’s the plague of my D-List.

Plus, she made me defend Paris Hilton.

Image: WireImage

Oldie-But-Goody: Brooke Hogan Insults Paris Hilton is a post from: The Inquisitr