Voting

Although 28 members of the California Assembly supported a measure to allow new oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast, their votes are nowhere to be found in the official state database. After the measure failed, Assembly leaders expunged the vote altogether, sparing lawmakers running for reelection an official record of their controversial decision. The voting logs made available to the public on the Legislature's website do not indicate who voted for and against the bill on July 24.

A Roman Catholic priest should not have told parishioners who voted for President-elect Barack Obama to refrain from taking Holy Communion because of his stance in support of abortion, the church's senior officer in the state said. Monsignor Martin T. Laughlin said in a statement posted on the diocese's website that the church should not be drawn into "the partisan political arena." Earlier this week, Father Jay Scott Newman said in a letter to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion without first doing penance for voting for the Democrat.

Heather and Andy Collins, both independent voters, are a house divided -- torn between Sens. Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, and John McCain, the Arizona Republican. "Those are the two candidates we feel can work [with both parties] and get things done," said Andy Collins, a carpenter. The couple said each of them could vote for either Obama or McCain -- but after watching Obama on television and hearing McCain speak in the town square on Monday, they may end up splitting the difference.

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has begun detailed polling and sophisticated voter analysis in all 50 states as he considers an independent bid for president, associates said Wednesday. The information gathering quietly started months ago, and when the analysis begins shortly, it will provide the data-obsessed billionaire businessman with the information he will use to decide whether to launch a run for the White House.

The opposition Nationalist Party won an overwhelming victory Saturday in closely watched Taiwanese legislative elections widely seen as a preview of March's presidential contest. The results were viewed as a vote of no confidence in the administration of President Chen Shui-bian, who has alienated many voters with his contentious style and policy reversals during a period of disappointing economic growth and increased tensions with Beijing.

A federal judge cleared the way Thursday for creation of nine at-large Democratic casino precincts on the Las Vegas Strip for Saturday's caucuses, but the decision did little to calm the internecine battle between supporters of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan sided with the state Democratic Party and rejected a challenge by Clinton supporters and the Nevada State Education Assn. to ban the at-large Strip precincts.

Medea Bern, once a registered Republican, is one of a growing number of California voters who shun party membership and declare themselves independent. In the upcoming presidential election, that makes her the kind of voter all the candidates would like to reach. But when it comes to California's Feb. 5 primary, there is only one major party where she's welcome: the Democratic Party. She isn't allowed to cast her ballot in the Republican primary, and that upsets her.

The political wing of Planned Parenthood on Tuesday announced an unprecedented voter-mobilization effort targeting the young, often low-income women who rely on the group's clinics for gynecological exams, birth control and abortion. The nonprofit expects to raise at least $10 million over the next 10 months to recruit patients, as well as their friends and families, to lobby legislators and vote for candidates who support Planned Parenthood's agenda.

The search is on. In South Carolina, they've been looking in beauty parlors; in Southern California, one focus has been on churches. Around the San Francisco Bay Area this week, they planned to start scouring the senior and assisted-living centers. If you are registered to vote and have ever worn pantyhose, Women for Obama wants you -- and for good reason. In past races for the Democratic presidential nomination, the candidate who has attracted the most women has won.

Shelby King is a fan of Barack Obama. She admires his charisma and passion and believes he could unite the country as president. On Saturday, however, King plans to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton in South Carolina's Democratic primary. "She's got the experience," said King, 61, a real estate agent in Columbia, the state capital. "She's tough. She's bright. I'm a female of her era, and I know how hard it's been to get to where she's gotten." Edward Pair also likes Obama.