Ben Nelson told the committee chair that he would vote to approve Hans von Spakovsky for the Federal Elections Commission, so he was passed to the senate for a full vote.

“Clever Hans” is the Bush Administration’s minority voter suppression guru. Specifically:

• attempted to intimidate Justice Department employees
• stifle their appeals
• single-handedly disenfranchise thousands of Arizonans
• Overrode his staff to approve the Tom Delay redistricting.
• Overrode his staff to approve the Georgia Poll Tax voter ID plan
• Gave false testimony (later modified in written answers) to the committee about it

More here and here.