Politics

May 28, 2015 - North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has become a leading national advocate for expanded offshore drilling — a role that builds on almost three decades of his close personal, economic and political ties to the energy industry.

May 27, 2015 - A Facing South/Institute for Southern Studies analysis finds that disclosure of more than $7 million spent in North Carolina's 2014 state-level elections was slowed due to inconsistencies in state reporting rules — including details about more than $1.6 million that were hidden from the public until after the elections had passed.

May 21, 2015 - Nine states, four of them in the South, hold judicial elections but don't ban judges from seeking campaign cash from people that could appear before them. Following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a Florida case upholding such bans, judicial watchdogs are working to change the law in these outlier states.

May 20, 2015 - Last week Florida became the latest among 28 states that now or will soon offer statewide online voter registration. Evidence shows such systems are less prone to fraud, more cost-effective and popular among voters and elections officials alike.

May 18, 2015 - The Republicans running Mississippi have the prison system in shambles, workers' compensation gutted, education on a precipice — and journalist Joe Atkins looking back to populist Louisiana Gov. "Uncle" Earl Long for solace.

May 15, 2015 - Revelations that voter registration applications initiated at public assistance agencies in North Carolina have dropped off dramatically under Gov. Pat McCrory (R) have alarmed voting rights advocates. They're now seeking more information to determine whether the state is flouting federal law.

May 15, 2015 - Diana Roberts of Charlotte, North Carolina battled the odds to become a U.S. citizen and looked forward to voting in last year's elections. But her dream was crushed after the state wrongly flagged her as a non-citizen.