Elections and Voting

September 25, 2015 - The recent case of Ahmed Mohamed, a Sudanese-American student in Irving, Texas who was detained for bringing a homemade clock to school, has shed light on tension between the Dallas suburb's racially diverse population and its nearly entirely white local leadership — a dynamic that has persisted despite efforts to ensure local leadership reflects the broader community.

September 22, 2015 - On National Voter Registration Day, election reform and voting rights advocates are highlighting needed changes to the U.S. registration system to ensure citizens have unfettered access to the ballot box.

September 18, 2015 - There's a dearth of women in state legislatures and legislative leadership positions across the South — and it can't be blamed on family roles.

September 17, 2015 - Millions of people across the South and the rest of the country will cast ballots next year using outdated voting equipment, increasing the risk of failures that could cause long lines and missed or incorrect votes. While many local election officials want to buy new machines, they say they don't know where they'd get the money.

August 13, 2015 - After a stint as North Carolina's budget director, discount retail magnate and Republican kingmaker Art Pope is back to spending money on electoral politics.

August 12, 2015 - An N.C. State University professor has restored old reel-to-reel tapes from a public library in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, proving that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. first uttered his renowned "I Have A Dream" refrain in the eastern North Carolina city in 1962, nine months before his historic speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

August 5, 2015 - On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a federal appeals court handed down a decision against Texas voter ID requirements that shows why the landmark civil rights law is still needed.