TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

NORTH CAROLINA

• Democrats, independents surge in WNC (Asheville Citizen Times) independents gained nearly 2.2 percent statewide
• Gubernatorial primaries take back seat to presidential race (AP Google) North Carolina has 5.8 million registered voters, a 13 percent increase over 2004. Those figures include 1.2 million unaffiliated or independent voters, many of whom are expected to vote in the Democratic primary. Black voter registration has also spiked in North Carolina, up 19 percent from 2004 to 1.2 million.
• A little homework, planning will make voting easy (Asheville Citizen Times) Know your rights: If you make a mistake on your ballot, you can ask for another one. If you’re registered as Unaffiliated, you can ask to receive the primary ballot of either party. If you’re an ex-felon, you can register and vote if you’ve served all parts of your sentence, including probation.

WEST VIRGINIA

• Registered voters hit record numbers (Parkersburg News and Sentinel) ‘‘You must request the ballot when they come to the table,’’
• Voter registration hits record level (Huntington Herald Dispatch)
• SurveyUSA Poll in Indiana shows Obama 2 points ahead of Clinton among independents (SurveyUSA)
• West Virginia’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy for Voters (Alternet) The West Virginia Secretary of State's office and county election offices in the state are refusing to tell independent voters arriving to early vote at the state's 55 voting locations that they are entitled to vote in its Democratic or Republican primary, stating that they are forbidden to do so by law.
• West Virginia Secretary of State Disenfranchising Thousands of Obama Voters? (by: Matt Stoller, Open Left)

OREGON * As deadline looms, residents registering in droves to vote (The Register-Guard) Independent Party of Oregon also has seen significant growth [in Lane County], nearly doubling in size from 921 to 1,651 members since December 2007. [Updated 12:15pm]

MINNESOTA INDEPENDENCE PARTY * Three-way, anyone? Independence party vet Dean Barkley mulls US Senate run (Minnesota Monitor)

FEATURE * Jeremiah, Obama, and Roman Catholics (Commonweal Magazine) "I would also ask whether the Catholic Church has an “African-American problem.” "