A DOZEN ELDERLY NUNS TURNED AWAY
About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow nun because they didn't have state or federal ID bearing a photo.
Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow sisters at St. Mary's Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.
The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s, didn't get one but came to the precinct anyway. Some showed outdated passports. None of them drives.
"One came down this morning, and she was 98, and she said, 'I don't want to go do that,' " McGuire said. "You have to remember that some of these ladies don't walk well. They're in wheelchairs or on walkers or electric carts."
She said the convent will try to get proper ID for the nuns in time for the general election.
Elsewhere, voting appeared to run smoothly despite fears that the Supreme Court's recent refusal to strike down Indian's photo identification law could cause confusion at the polls.
MCCAIN: HIS JUDGES IN MOLD OF ROBERTS
Republican John McCain criticized Democrat Barack Obama for voting against John Roberts as U.S. chief justice, reaching out to the Christian right on one of their chief concerns: the proper role of judges.
Conservatives contend that federal judges have upset the balance of power among the courts, Congress and presidency by making far-reaching decisions.
"My nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power," McCain said at Wake Forest University.
The presumptive GOP nominee vowed promised to appoint judges in the mold of Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
Hillary Rodham Clinton also voted against Roberts, but McCain focused on Obama, saying he "went right along with the partisan crowd," in voting against Roberts. Obama's campaign said McCain would pick judges who would threaten abortion rights as well as McCain's own campaign finance reform bill.
BUSH NOMINATES 3 TO ELECTION AGENCY
President Bush on Tuesday nominated a Minnesota Democrat to serve on the Federal Election Commission.
If confirmed by the Senate, Cynthia L. Bauerly, 37, would serve the remainder of a six-year term that expires in April 2011 on the six-member agency, which is charged with the administration of campaign finance laws. She is legislative director in the office of Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. She also worked for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and at the Minneapolis law firm of Frederickson and Byron.
Bush also nominated Republicans Caroline Hunter and Donald McGahn in an attempt to break a Senate confirmation deadlock that had paralyzed the regulatory agency.
BOMB THREAT AT 3 OBAMA OFFICES
Authorities evacuated and searched three Barack Obama campaign offices in Indiana -- in Terre Haute, Vincennes and Evansville -- in response to a bomb threat. Obama spokesman Kevin Griffis said there was little disruption to the campaign.
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
