Politics

August 14, 2015 - Southern governors, working in concert with energy industry lobbyists, are pressing the Obama administration to open ocean waters off the East Coast from Virginia to Georgia to oil and gas development. But a burgeoning grassroots movement bringing together environmentalists, business leaders and coastal residents is gaining momentum as it fights to block drilling in the Atlantic.

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 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.

August 4, 2015 - More than 100 companies have severed ties with the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council, but documents show 54 companies still sponsoring the conservative policy group's annual meeting this summer, including top energy companies and businesses in the South.

July 24, 2015 - This week during the federal trial over North Carolina's restrictive voting law, the state elections chief testified that more than 96,000 citizens would have been blocked from voting in 2012 if the law had been in place then. Meanwhile, another expert testified that there had been a total of two cases of voter fraud in the state from 2000 to 2014.

July 17, 2015 - North Carolina's strict voter ID requirements were recently relaxed by state lawmakers, but voter ID still technically stands as the law of the land. What's next for the voter ID debate in the state?

July 17, 2015 - A new report examines the well-being of state democracies and finds that seven of the nation's 10 least healthy are in the South. We take a look at barriers to voting across the region.