The Fulcrum is a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization focused exclusively on efforts to reverse the dysfunctions plaguing American democracy.
This article first appeared on The Fulcrum. DeVore, a Republican state legislator in California from 2004 through 2010, is vice president for national initiatives at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank. With the coronavirus still infecting and killing people, particularly the old and infirm, there have
This article was first published on The Fulcrum. The League of Women Voters has sued Alabama to ease the rules governing absentee ballots during the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit, filed in state court in Montgomery on Thursday, claims Secretary of State John Merrill did not go far enough in March,
This article was first published on The Fulcrum The GOP has sued to prevent the effort to conduct the November election almost entirely by mail in the nation's most populous state as a way to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The lawsuit, filed Sunday in federal court,
This article was first published on The Fulcrum update: A federal appeals court has temporarily put on hold a lower court’s sweeping ruling that would have allowed all Texas voters to qualify to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic. Siding with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a three-judge
This article first appeared on The Fulcrum Two prominent voting rights groups are attempting to formally intervene so they can fight a Pennsylvania lawsuit that threatens thousands of names on the voter rolls in that marquee battleground state. The suit filed two weeks ago by Judicial Watch, a conservative advocacy
This article was first published on The Fulcrum Updated Monday afternoon to describe four, not three, lawsuits. Expanding voters' access to absentee ballots across the South during the coronavirus pandemic is the goal of the four newest lawsuits brought by Democrats and civil rights groups. The suits, like a
Originally published on The Fulcrum. All Kentuckians will get the chance to vote by mail in the June 23 primary under a deal worked out between Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, and Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican. The switch is an attempt to prevent the spread of the
Originally published on The Fulcrum. Enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 remains a celebrated landmark in American history. It's time to celebrate the law's potential anew by making some big changes in how state legislatures are elected. My home state of Virginia illustrates the
Originally published on The Fulcrum. Bernie Sanders ending his campaign, obviating the need for more Democratic presidential primaries, is the biggest news of the week about keeping democracy safe during the coronavirus pandemic. The Vermont senator dropped out Wednesday, hours after the end of a chaotic day of primary voting
Originally published on The Fulcrum. An estimated 1.4 million freed Florida felons may start registering to vote, a federal judge has ruled. Tuesday's decision by District Judge Robert Hinkle is a potential watershed in the two-year fight over the future political rights of those who have been
Originally published on The Fulcrum. Due to the coronavirus, many states that have held their presidential primaries on schedule this year experienced a decrease in turnout, chaos and confusion. As we know, the integrity and inclusiveness of our elections depends on a well-run election system — which is exactly why Maricopa
Originally published on The Fulcrum. Sarat is a professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College. Responding to its place at the center of the coronavirus pandemic, New York has now joined 13 other states in postponing presidential primaries. Where elections have gone forward, fears of disease exposure have