democracy
Mike Lindell’s conspiracy-fueled pillow company fights to survive his election obsession
CHASKA, Minn. — Pillow mogul Mike Lindell calls up former Michigan state senator Patrick Colbeck, who works for something Lindell made up called the Election Crime Bureau, to talk about press strategy. Lindell tells Colbeck a press release needs to mention his “offense fund,” to which people can give donations so Lindell can keep funding […]
Study: Kentuckians increasingly excluded from lawmaking process by fast-track maneuvers
FRANKFORT — The League of Women Voters of Kentucky released a report Wednesday that found the General Assembly has increasingly fast-tracked bills in a manner that makes citizen participation nearly impossible — about a month before lawmakers return to Frankfort in January. The League’s analysis found that fewer than 5% of bills that became law 25 […]
How U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson helped derail a fight against election lies
Back in July, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. A federal court had recently granted a temporary injunction, in Missouri v. Biden, finding that the Biden administration had violated the First Amendment by coercing social media companies to remove content, related both to elections and the COVID-19 vaccine, that […]
State, local elections offer good news for democracy
The big news out of Tuesday’s elections was wins for Democrats and for reproductive rights in Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. But small “d” democracy also had a good night: Virginians elected pro-voting majorities in both chambers, stymieing efforts to pass restrictive new voting laws. Ohioans turned out in large numbers to pass two popular […]
Voters, poll workers say they turn out for ‘what makes America great’
In downtown Lexington, lines of voters had formed by midmorning at the Harrison Elementary School polling site. Greeting and guiding them was poll worker Eugene Young, 72, who said his military service had contributed to his conviction about the importance of voting. “I’m a Vietnam veteran. I fought for this,” Young said surveying the Election […]
One year out: how a free and fair 2024 presidential election could be under threat
The last time America elected a president, it led to a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol and a failed coup that gravely damaged the political system and marred the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in U.S. history. A year from now, the nation’s voters will decide another presidential contest — likely […]
Kenton County Board of Elections votes to disallow Wi-Fi detectors at polling locations
The Kenton County Board of Elections unanimously voted to explicitly disallow the presence of wireless monitoring devices at polling places on Election Day. The meeting’s topic came as the result of discussions that Kenton County Board of Election Chair Gabrielle Summe had at a recent county clerks meeting, where she heard about My Pillow Founder […]
Kentucky activists step in to deliver on the promise of voting rights restoration
This story first appeared in Bolts and is reprinted with permission. Alonzo Malone Jr. says he felt “less than human” during the 27 years the state of Kentucky barred him from voting. Malone lost his voting rights, along with his freedom and a slew of other civil liberties, in 1989 when he was convicted of […]
Kentucky early voting starts this week. Tuesday last day to request a mail-in absentee ballot.
Some of Kentucky’s voters will go to their local polling locations this week. Excused in-person early voting begins Wednesday, Oct. 25, and will be held Oct. 25-27, and next week Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Voters can find information, such as address and hours, for their local in-person early voting location on the State Board of Elections’ […]
Members of U.S. House GOP describe threats sparked by votes against Jim Jordan for speaker
WASHINGTON — Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon said his wife slept with a gun for protection after she received threatening phone calls demanding that her husband support Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan’s bid for U.S. House speaker. Bacon was among a handful of members who reported threats and the targeting of family members after opposing the […]
States that send a mail ballot to every voter really do increase turnout, scholars find
Lately, a rough consensus has emerged among people who study the impact of voting policies: Though they often spark fierce partisan fighting, most changes to voting laws do little to affect overall turnout, much less election results. But one fast-growing reform appears to stand out as an exception. When every registered voter gets sent a […]
Election disputes put heat on secretaries of state: Meet the Kentucky candidates
Pretend it’s the end of the 2024 presidential election. Either Republican Michael Adams or Democrat Charles “Buddy” Wheatley is Kentucky’s secretary of state, a job that includes overseeing elections in the Bluegrass State. The losing candidate in the state’s presidential election calls Kentucky’s secretary of state and asks him to “find” enough votes to overturn […]