July 14, 2017 -
After the controversial commission requested voter data from all 50 states, it faced an onslaught of resistance and lawsuits. Meanwhile, rattled voters have been contacting elections officials to get their names off of the rolls.
July 14, 2017 -
A ballot initiative campaign in Florida and a lawsuit against Louisiana seek to restore voting rights to people convicted of felonies after they're released from prison. The efforts are parts of a broader movement to overturn felony disenfranchisement laws rooted in white-supremacist politics.
July 12, 2017 -
A perennial bill to create a national single-payer public health insurance program has record support in this Congress. Though none of the cosponsors are Republicans, they include a growing number of conservative Southern Democrats, signaling a shift in health care politics.
June 30, 2017 -
In his famous July 4 speech delivered 165 years ago, abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, "With brave men, there is always a remedy for oppression." Now is the time for Congress to be brave for democracy and vote to restore the eviscerated Voting Rights Act.
June 29, 2017 -
President Trump wants to open an area from Delaware to Florida to seismic airgun blasting for offshore oil and gas reserves, a plan that carries risks for coastal communities while benefiting mostly foreign firms. Federal officials are accepting public comments on the proposal through July 6.
June 28, 2017 -
With the 2020 count approaching, concerns are mounting that budget cuts and turnover at the U.S. Census Bureau could lead to missing significant numbers of historically undercounted residents — many in disadvantaged Southern communities that depend on accurate numbers to apportion political power and fund services.
June 27, 2017 -
While much of the country was focused on last week's special election in Georgia's 6th Congressional District, Democrat Archie Parnell pulled off a 17-point leftward swing in South Carolina's strongly GOP 5th. His near-victory offers insight for the 2018 midterms and raises questions about the kind of candidate who can win in the South.
