Past Issues
Who are the “right people” to vote?
“The right people should vote” Axios and SurveyMonkey did a poll earlier this month that sheds light on the differences between parties on voting rights. Overall, 62% of Americans surveyed, and 79% of Democrats, said that "government would function better if more...
What Ohio got wrong, what Connecticut got right, and the $430 billion on the way to buy your local election
Ohio votes against Gerrymandering. Kinda. The biggest voting rights news this week is that on Tuesday, Ohio voters, by a three-to-one margin, overwhelmingly approved Issue 1, a ballot initiative designed to reform how congressional districts are drawn. Issue 1 was...
Why I agree with Donald Trump, why all gerrymandering isn’t created equal, and why George Orwell might be smiling right now
"Everybody does it"... but do they? A reader wrote me after last week's issue and pointed out that as I detailed examples of states with extreme gerrymandering, I only highlighted states where Republicans redistricted to favor their party but didn't include...
Endless gerrymandering legal delays, racial double standards on “fraud” in Texas, and proof that you’re not paranoid
Gerrymandering distorts the democratic process, skewing election outcomes in ways that don't fairly reflect the electorate. In many states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, partisan gerrymandering has grossly distorted state and federal...
Vote squishing Republicans, 10th grade voters, and the best midterm elections that money can buy
Make it easier for everyone to vote? 39% say no. A recent Pew Reseach Center survey showed that while 59% of Americans polled support the idea that "everything possible should be done to make it easy for every citizen to vote," 39% reject that idea...
Good news, bad news, and the big problem with hyphens
Time served, but still not free When an American has been convicted of a felony, goes to jail, serves his or her time, then is released, the general principle is that they've paid their debt to society and have a new chance at a better life. A criminal record may make...
Ancient voting machines, dangerous Trump lies, and big changes in Michigan
The biggest threat to the vote in 2018 might be the machines ProPublica posted a story last week about how the biggest threat to the vote in 2018 may not be hacking or voter suppression, but the failing technology in most polling places in America. Check out...
The gerrymandered firewall for the GOP, a creative new way to avoid Wisconsin voters, and ERIC, the vote-stealing computer
"Extreme Gerrymandering" report pours cold water on optimism for Democratic House in 2019 A report this week from the Brennan Center, one of the leading authorities on voting rights and election law, offered a sobering take on the prospects of the Democrats to...
Hope in Wisconsin, sore losers in Pennsylvania, and 20,339 votes for an American Nazi
On Wisconsin? For the better part of the past decade, Wisconsin has been a case study in how many ways determined and shameless legislators can undermine democracy at the state level. After the 2010 election brought in Republican Governor Scott Walker and GOP control...
Lessons from Pennsylvania, courtroom fights in Kansas, and Trump’s no-good, very bad polling place idea
What we learned in Pennsylvania on Tuesday Democrat Conor Lamb defeated Republican Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District election by 627 votes on Tuesday. That's 627 out of 228,378 total votes cast. Aside from edging out Saccone by 0.2%, Lamb's...