After a protracted, partisan fight over his nomination to the Federal Election Commission, former Justice Department official Hans von Spakovsky has withdrawn his name from consideration. It was the right thing to do. The long feud has kept the FEC, which polices campaign finance matters, without a quorum and unable to do its work.

Senate Democrats refused to confirm von Spakovsky, a former chairman of the Fulton County Republican Party, because of his highly partisan crusade to push through rigid voter ID laws while he served in the Civil Rights Division's Voting Section. Not only did he approve those laws over the objections of career federal attorneys, but he also went so far as to tell Arizona officials they did not have to provide provisional ballots for those voters who came to the polls without proper ID —- assuring they could not vote, even if they were qualified to do so. According to the Washington Post, more than half the career attorneys in the Voting Section quit in protest during his tenure.

With von Spakovsky out of the running, the Senate is expected to quickly agree on other nominees, both Democrats and Republicans, for the six-member FEC. That's good news, since the commission needs to be busy scrutinizing campaign finances during this critical election season.

—- Cynthia Tucker, for the editorial board (ctucker@ajc.com)