The United Mine Workers -- who have had some interesting interplay on the P-G's letters pages with others in organized labor supporting Barack Obama  -- look to be sitting out the presidential election this year after supporting Obama four years ago. But they're no friends of Mitt Romney either.

From the National Journal:

"As of right now, we've elected to stay out of this election," said Mike Caputo, a UMWA official and a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. "Our members right now have indicated to stay out of this race, and that's why we've done that.... I don't think quite frankly that coalfield folks are crazy about either candidate."

Both candidates are trying to prove otherwise to voters in coal-intensive swing states. Earlier this week the Obama campaign released in Ohio the first coal-issue ad of this cycle, claiming that Romney has flip-flopped his position on coal. The ad includes comments that Romney made as Massachusetts governor in 2003 standing in front of a coal plant, saying that he wouldn't support jobs that kill people.

For his part, Romney is claiming Obama's Environmental Protection Agency is waging a war on coal with a slew of regulations.

Pat Toomey's opponent in Pa's tight 2010 US Senate race, Joe Sestak, is among the Democratic voices criticizing an ad from an Obama-supporting SuperPAC that ties business moves by Mitt Romney's former equity firm Bain Capital to a woman's death. The spot from Priorities USA Action centers on a man who lost his job and family health insurance after Bain took over his Kansas City steel mill. "I do not think Mitt Romney realizes what he's done to anyone. Furthermore I do not think Mitt Romney is concerned," the former steelworker says.

From the WSJ:

"I thought the ad was wrong in terms of trying to tie a presidential candidate to a personal tragedy of a family," said former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. "This ad goes over the edge."

We haven't personally seen the ad in the Pittsburgh market but it's probably running here -- Priorities USA has bought time on the city's four broadcast networks through Monday. It's showing in five battleground states. UPDATE: No it's not yet on air yet, according to Maggie Haberman at Politico.

The Daily Show led off last night with the voter ID laws approved by GOP legislatures in Pa and other swing states this presidential year and finished off the spot with the Corbett administration legal stipulation that it has no evidence of election-day voter fraud.

"It doesn't happen, this [law] won't stop it, I think you see why we have to do it now," Jon Stewart said lawyerly. "Next up: leashes for unicorns."

Studies (like this one from the P-G's Andrew McGill) show Pa's voter ID bill will have the biggest impact on elderly voters. So it makes sense that members of the Pennsylvania Voter Hall of Fame (who have voted in general elections for 50 straight years and are 68 at the youngest) would be among those impacted. Voter ID critics at the AFL-CIO crunched the data and found 1 in 4 members of the Hall who are still actively voting appear on lists of those with no (or expiring) PennDOT ID. From my story:

The AFL-CIO cross-referenced the state's list of some 21,000 Hall of Fame members statewide with 2011 and 2012 voter data and found 5,923 who were still active voters. Of those voters, 1,384 (23 percent) are named in separate state data listing those who do not match up exactly with PennDOT ID data, or have IDs set to expire a year before the Nov. 6 election, rendering them unacceptable for voting.

"These are 1,384 individuals who have not missed a general election since at least 1961 -- but who may very well be prevented from voting for the first time this year -- if they are unaware of the new Voter ID Law, or unable to obtain the proper ID in time for the election," the union umbrella organization stated in releasing the findings.

Another voter on the no-ID rolls is PA18 Democratic congressional candidate Larry Maggi, whose name is spelled "Lawrence" on his PennDOT ID, meaning an election judge will make the call on whether that "substantially conforms" with his voter registration under the law. From a statement he issued yesterday:

“As a Marine, I served our country to protect freedom and democracy for every American.  The most basic freedom in a democracy is the right to vote.  Now, I am not even certain my vote will count this November.  The state is not ready to implement this law if over 700,000 people do not have the proper ID to be eligible to vote---including veterans and lifelong residents.”

Maggi, who is also a former policeman, opposes the law. His campaign is launching a website called "Let Larry Vote" later today to publicize the problem.

In Philly, Democrats and the NAACP are up in arms over a study from a geographic data analysis firm showing the law has an outsized impact on minority voters (which the DoJ is looking into as well). From the Inquirer:

Examining wards by racial population, there was a strong relationship between high white population percentages and a low percentage without valid PennDot ID, and between a high black population percentage and a high percentage without valid PennDot ID. A moderate positive relationship was found between a neighborhood's Latino percentage and its percentage of invalid PennDot ID.

Those findings were based on information released by the Department of State, which includes the names of many people who have PennDot identification but appeared on the state's list anyway.

The relationship was strongest for those with expired ID - the new law does not allow ID that has been expired for more than a year from the election date - and weak for those with no PennDot ID. Higher populations of black voters tended to correlate with higher percentages of expired IDs; the opposite effect was true for white voters.

Busy times here on the political desk.

I have stories today following up the Vulakovich/Brown state Senate race (with fresh comments from both), complaints from Democrats about PA12 Republican Keith Rothfus and payroll taxes for his employees, and a new study arguing voter ID will hurt members of the Pa Voter Hall of Fame (more on that later).

Jim O'Toole has the apology from Allegheny County GOP chair for his "retarded" joke.

Jill Cueni-Cohen talks to North Hills voters who weren't aware of Tuesday's special Senate election.

Laura Olson has the wild story of imprisoned former Democratic House speaker Bill DeWeese fighting with the state Democratic party in Commonwealth Court to stay on the Nov. 6 ballot.