Independents are a fast-growing voting bloc that tends to lean toward Republicans' fiscal ideology and Democrats' social policies, polls have shown.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Earlier this year, on Capitol Hill, it looked like legislation to require paper ballots for all voting equipment was on the fast track.

NPR: Local Election Officials Oppose Paper Ballots

This time there was no fast response from Congress, as members balked at voting to hamper party funding by banning political fund-raising calls.

ECONOMIST: The chairman of the FCC gets a chance to redeem himself

The most obvious source of new votes for Democrats in future is not white men but the fast-growing (though under-registered for voting) Latino population who, outside Texas and Florida, vote Democratic by two to one.

ECONOMIST: The Democrats

They are a fast-growing group, although a relatively large proportion of them are below voting age and even those eligible to vote are less assiduous about it than Anglos are.

ECONOMIST: Immigration politics

George Bush got fast-track authorisation by a vote of 215 to 214, despite 190 House Democrats voting against the measure.

ECONOMIST: Working overseas