Politics

July 12, 2013 - South Carolina is the latest state where politicians' tales of dead voters casting ballots have been proven false, but restrictive voting laws are still being passed in response to these myths. Perhaps it's time for a law to ban such false claims as a form of voter fraud?

July 11, 2013 - More legislators in North Carolina than in any other state have signed Americans for Prosperity's pledge that discourages action on climate change. Credit for the pledge's political success goes to the billionaire brothers of Koch Industries who founded AFP -- but also to North Carolina's own Art Pope, a conservative mega-donor and longtime AFP leader.

July 10, 2013 - A three-judge panel has ruled that North Carolina's GOP-drawn voting districts should stand despite charges of gerrymandering. What does it mean for voters of color -- and for voters in general?

July 8, 2013 - With another Moral Monday protest getting underway at the North Carolina General Assembly, a group affiliated with the tea party movement offers a satirical song for the occasion titled "Marxist Mondays."

July 2, 2013 - The N.C. commission charged with regulating fracking is protesting state lawmakers' effort to preempt its authority to require strong public disclosure rules for chemicals used in fracking for natural gas. Will North Carolina join other Southern states in adopting weak disclosure requirements?

July 1, 2013 - A Florida-based nonprofit called A Better America Now spent money on mailers linking a Texas congressional candidate to "left-wing extremists" and a controversy involving an endangered spider.

June 28, 2013 - A website publicizing details about people arrested in nonviolent protests at the N.C. legislature expanded this week to include salaries of arrestees who are public workers -- and suffered a setback when local officials said they'd no longer take arrestees' mugshots. Meanwhile, private data-gathering efforts in another state are generating controversy over their use for political retaliation.