“Here’s an overlooked consequence to the protracted presidential nomination fights in both parties: a historically short period of time for the eventual nominee to effectively vet his or her vice presidential options before making the eventual pick,” the Washington Post reports.

“Combine the lack of a clear primary winner by the spring with the decision by both parties to move up their national conventions to the month of July and you get a very, very short window for the nominees to pick the person who will be, literally, a heartbeat away from the presidency.”

A new Harvard Institute of Politics poll of young voters finds Hillary Clinton the clear front-runner over Donald Trump to win the White House in 2016, 61% to 25%.

“More than three in five (61%) prefer that a Democrat win the White House, while 33% prefer a Republican. The divide of 28 points is nearly double what it was in Spring 2015, when the divide was 15 percentage points (55% Democrat; 40% Republican).”

Donald Trump “blasted his remaining two GOP presidential rivals after they announced an agreement Sunday to coordinate in upcoming primary contests with the aim of preventing Trump from securing the nomination,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Trump: “Honestly, it shows such total weakness, and it’s pathetic when two longtime insider politicians — establishment guys, whether you like it or not — have to collude, have to get together to try to beat a guy that really speaks what the people want.”

“A federal judge on Monday upheld North Carolina’s voter identification law, delivering a clear victory to Republican leaders in this state who defended it as a safeguard against fraud,” the New York Times reports.

“North Carolina’s voter identification law requires people to display one of six credentials, such as a driver’s license or passport, before casting a ballot. Those who cannot may complete a “reasonable impediment declaration” and cast a provisional ballot.”

A new Suffolk University/USA Today poll finds that while 60% of Republican voters will support the eventual GOP nominee if their candidate is not chosen, a majority of Donald Trump supporters said they would vote for the businessman if he were to lose the nomination and run as a third-party candidate.

Meanwhile, 40% of Republicans whose favored candidate is not nominated said they will vote for the Democratic nominee, seriously consider a third-party candidate, stay home on Election Day in November, or are undecided.