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Librarians gain protections in some states as book bans soar
Karen Grant and fellow school librarians throughout New Jersey have heard an increasingly loud chorus of parents and conservative activists demanding that certain books 鈥 often about race, gender and sexuality 鈥 be removed from the shelves. In the past year, Grant and her colleagues in the Ewing Public Schools just north of Trenton updated […]
鈥楩irehose鈥 of election conspiracy theories floods final days of the campaign
In the final days of the presidential election, lies about noncitizens voting, the vulnerability of mail-in ballots and the security of voting machines are spreading widely over social media. Fanned by former President Donald Trump and notable allies such as tech tycoon Elon Musk, election disinformation is warping voters鈥 faith in the integrity of the […]
College students fight barriers to casting ballots as early voting begins
In the final weeks of the presidential campaign, each side is scouring swing states to get as many voters as possible, including on college campuses. But in some of those crucial states, students face new barriers to casting their ballots. North Carolina election officials are for the first time enforcing a 2018 voter ID law […]
In the tightest states, new voting laws could tip the outcome in November
This five-day series explores the priorities of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election. With the outcome expected to be close, these 鈥渟wing states鈥 may decide the future of the country. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. 鈥 Some voters are already casting early ballots in the […]
Swing states prepare for a showdown over certifying votes in November
GRAYLING, Mich. 鈥 Clairene Jorella was furious. In the northern stretches of Michigan鈥檚 Lower Peninsula, the Crawford County Board of Canvassers had just opened its meeting to certify the August primary when Jorella, 83 years old and one of two Democrats on the panel, laid into her Republican counterparts. Glaring, she said she was gobsmacked […]
In small towns, even GOP clerks are targets of election conspiracies
PORT AUSTIN, Mich. 鈥 Deep in the thumb of Michigan鈥檚 mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula, Republican election officials are outcasts in their rural communities. Michigan cities already were familiar with the consequences of election conspiracy theories. In 2020, Republicans聽flooded聽Detroit鈥檚 ballot counting center looking for fraud. Democratic and Republican election officials聽faced聽an onslaught of threats. And conservative activists聽attempted to聽tamper […]
Though noncitizens can vote in few local elections, GOP goes big to make it illegal
Preventing people who are not United States citizens from casting a ballot has reemerged as a focal point in the ongoing Republican drive to safeguard 鈥渆lection integrity,鈥 even though noncitizens are rarely involved in voter fraud. Ahead of November鈥檚 presidential election, congressional and state Republican lawmakers are aiming to keep noncitizens away from the polls. […]
Feds deliver stark warnings to state election officials ahead of November
WASHINGTON 鈥 Federal law enforcement and cybersecurity officials are warning the nation鈥檚 state election administrators that they face serious threats ahead of November鈥檚 presidential election. Secretaries of state and state election directors must be ready for potential cyberattacks, both familiar and uncomfortably new, according to the feds. And they must remain vigilant about possible threats […]
Cities have ways to curb gun violence; feds are giving them more money
When shots ring out on the South and West sides of Chicago, Sam Castro and his team at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago race to the scene of the shooting and to the hospital where emergency responders are treating the gunshot victim. Knowing most of the city鈥檚 gun violence is caused by a small cluster […]
Why Republican-led states keep leaving a group that verifies voter rolls
Eight Republican-led states this year left an interstate cooperative that seeks to maintain accurate voter registration rolls, and three more may join them 鈥 a move that election security experts say is fueled by conspiracy theories. Earlier this month, Virginia鈥檚 top election official said the state would become the latest to stop participating in the […]
College students push to ease voting access after midterm barriers
Story originally published in Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Young voters made their voices heard during the midterms last week, turning out in relatively high numbers in an election that produced the first congressperson from Generation Z. But university students and voting rights advocates say voters on college campuses faced far too […]