Past Issues
New year, old battles, and magical dreams of election reform
New year. Old battles. 1. Congress makes a (symbolic?) effort to reform election laws The first bill proposed by the new Democratic-controlled Congress is H.R.1 — modestly titled the "For the People Act of 2019" — a sweeping proposal to improve voting rights, reform...
The ten biggest voting rights stories from last week’s midterm elections
1. Surprised? Florida's recount is a dumpster fire of flawed election laws, right-wing conspiracy theories, baseless "fraud" charges, and inept ballot design Florida's Senate and governor races are all too close to call and undergoing a statewide recount. As of Monday...
Don’t choke, America: Final news & thoughts before the midterm elections
*|FNAME|*, if you see a problem on Election Day, report it! If you go to the polls tomorrow and experience or witness anything that seems wrong — voter intimidation, voting machine problems, extreme delays, voters being turned away — report it to Election Protection:...
Four days out: Election and polling places go under the microscope
1. Voter suppression might be decisive in key races in Tuesday's election Ari Berman breaks down the real possibility of voter disenfranchisement deciding key races for Governor and the control of the U.S. Congress in the New York Times. Jelani Cobb surveys election...
The Devil Went Down to Georgia, 2018 Edition
1. Georgia gets shadier by the day It was always a problem that the Republican candidate for Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp is also the current Secretary of State, which means he manages elections. That conflict of interest is compounded with the fact that he had a...
Unsafe voting machines, neglectful founding fathers, and the fight for second chances
1. The real threats to election integrity have nothing to do with Voter ID Three recent stories point to the alarming vulnerability of our election systems to attack. First, the New York Times Magazine has an in-depth feature on "The Crisis of Election...
Ted Cruz, New York State, Georgia’s voting machines, and other terrible, broken things
1. No pressure... but “the next decade is essentially on the ballot in the fall of 2018” Vox takes a deep dive into why 2018 will be critical to determining how gerrymandering will define the next decade. Governors races in key states this fall will...
Why Brian Kemp is bad news for voting rights, North Carolina can’t catch a break, and therapy dogs might just save America
1. Georgia's Brian Kemp has a stunningly bad record on voting rights Georgia Secretary of State and would-be Governor Brian Kemp has not only embraced Donald Trump's political agenda, but also his open hostility to voting rights. As the highest elections official in...
What McCain got right, what NC got wrong, and why all politics is kinda, sorta 33% local
1. John McCain and the lost battle for campaign finance reform Last week, Senator John McCain died. And while I didn't agree with most of his policies or politics, I will always admire his central role in the last great effort to pass bipartisan campaign finance...
Texas, Georgia, New Hampshire, and other places that don’t seem to want you to vote
1. Federal judge: A messy signature doesn't take away your right to vote New Hampshire — the "Live Free or Die" state — had a law on the books that allowed pollworkers to throw away absentee ballots if they didn't think the signature...