voting
Voting advocates raise alarm about Ohio GOP measures to limit absentee voting and drop boxes
Voting rights groups are raising concerns with two voting bills Ohio Republican lawmakers appear poised to advance during the lame duck session: One for photo voter ID, and the other to limit drop boxes and absentee voting. In the Ohio House, lawmakers are working on a proposal that places limits on drop boxes, absentee voting, […]
As young voters, we have the power to decide Ohio’s future
Following a term that saw the U.S. Supreme Court hand off the legality of abortion and other key issues to the states, Ohio courts have never been more decisive. In the coming year, our state Supreme Court could rule on everything from the future of abortion access to the preservation of LGBTQ+ rights and the […]
Vote. The future of democracy in America depends on voters shedding apathy and getting engaged
“I think the biggest threat [to democracy] will be if the exhausted majority is too tired to get engaged. I think that’s a threat: Good people doing nothing or good people sitting on the sidelines.”-Tim Ryan, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio. History is replete with examples of good people doing nothing while bad […]
Issue 2: Ohio voters to decide whether non-citizens can vote in local elections
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Issue 2 on Ohio’s 2022 general election ballot will allow voters to determine if non-citizens […]
Young voters are more likely to skip midterm elections than presidential races
By Jan Leighley, American University School of Public Affairs Midterm elections typically have lower voter turnout than presidential elections, but there is another crucial difference beyond just how many people vote: how old they are. If past turnout patterns hold in 2022’s midterm election, most demographic groups will be represented as much as they are […]
The important role of secs. of state in administering fair elections is changing. Not in a good way
By Thom Reilly, Arizona State University The state officials who administer fair, accessible and secure elections have historically operated quietly without garnering much public attention. Elections happen, votes are counted, the winners are declared and democracy moves on. But since 2020, secretaries of state and other state officials who oversee elections have come under increasing […]
The right to vote is not in the Constitution
If you’re looking for the right to vote, you won’t find it in the United States Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Two of the most important cases at the Supreme Court this year address voting rights, and both legal controversies focus on the right to vote. But rather than denials of the right to […]
Name-calling in politics grabs headlines, but it could backfire in the 2022 midterm elections
Spending on political advertising is setting records in the midterm elections. But evidence shows that negative messages might discourage voters from casting ballots altogether. As the 2022 midterms get closer, political attacks in campaign advertisements are on the rise. In November, Rep. Paul Gosar shared an anime cartoon video showing him physically attacking Rep. Alexandria […]
Election officials risk criminal charges under 31 new GOP-imposed penalties
Second in a two-part series. See part one here. Since the 2020 election, Iowa has enacted one new felony and two new misdemeanor offenses targeting election officials. The state’s omnibus election law, passed in 2021, criminalizes election officials who fail to perform their duties, don’t adequately maintain voter lists, or interfere with other people performing their […]
U.S. sues Arizona over proof of citizenship voting law
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division announced Tuesday that it has sued Arizona over a law signed by the state’s Republican governor in March that requires people registering to vote prove their citizenship to participate in a presidential election or to vote by mail in any federal election. Republican proponents of the law, […]
The District of Columbia allows incarcerated people to vote, a rarity in the U.S.
This article is published through a collaboration between States Newsroom and Bolts. WASHINGTON — Earlier this month, about 10 men detained in the Young Men Emerging unit in the Washington, D.C., jail sat around a TV to watch the Democratic candidates for mayor debate issues including affordable housing and gun violence. “It was on a communal TV, and […]
Local election workers tell secretary of state they can’t be ‘complicit in illegitimate elections’
A group of election precinct officials have sent a letter to the Ohio Secretary of State say they “cannot defend democracy” when the Ohio Redistricting Commission, including Secretary of State Frank LaRose, aren’t doing the same, they say. Election workers in 23 counties signed on to a letter asking the commission and LaRose to heed […]