Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

The state of voting: June 21, 2022

State of voting - election law changes

This weekly update summarizing legislative activity affecting voting and elections is powered by the Voting Rights Lab. Sign up for VRL’s weekly newsletter here.

The Voting Rights Lab is tracking 2,166 bills so far this session, with 577 bills that tighten the rules governing voter access or election administration and 1,028 bills that expand the rules.

In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, landmark legislation designed to prevent race- and language-based discriminatory election laws and procedures. But in nearby New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu signed a bill that creates a stricter voter ID law and establishes a new system of provisional ballots.

Meanwhile, a New Mexico county narrowly avoided an election crisis after a county commission initially refused to certify 2022 primary results, citing distrust of voting machines. And an Arizona court upheld the applicability of the latest version of the Election Procedures manual to give clarity to voters and election officials for the state's upcoming elections.

Here are the details:


New York enacts its John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. On Monday June 20, Governor Hochul signed the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York into law. It creates legal protections to prevent race- and language-based discriminatory election laws, rules and practices. In certain instances, it will require that changes to election rules be pre-approved – or precleared – before going into effect, to ensure they will not have a discriminatory impact. The bill also creates private rights of action to facilitate injunctive relief when a law is discriminatory, as well as require all key voting materials to be provided in various languages.

Sununu signs New Hampshire’s strict voter ID bill. Previously, New Hampshire law allowed voters without physical ID to cast a regular ballot if they completed an affidavit affirming their identity, under penalty of perjury. S.B. 418, which was signed into law last week, eliminates that alternative, and instead rescinds their vote from the count if they are unable to show an ID within 10 days of the election. Most states with voter ID laws offer an alternative to ensure the identity of voters without ID can be verified through other means. This new bill puts New Hampshire in the minority.

Arizona judge affirms that the 2019 Election Procedures Manual will apply in 2022. On Friday, a trial court judge ruled against a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Mark Brnovich attempting to either rewrite the 2019 version of the EPM, which governs many aspects of Arizona elections including drop box security and signature verification, or to have it ruled inapplicable to elections in 2022. Brnovich brought the suit against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs several months after the two were unable to agree on the 2021 version of the EPM Hobbs proposed in the fall of last year. The court cited Brnovich’s delay in filing the suit and the approaching primary elections (Arizona’s state primary is on Aug. 2) among the considerations in ruling against the attorney general.

New Mexico narrowly avoids an election crisis. Otero County chose to certify its election results on the state deadline after initially refusing to do so out of distrust for the Dominion voting equipment used to tabulate the ballots. After the New Mexico Supreme Court ordered the county to certify and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver asked the attorney general to launch a criminal investigation into the commission, the commission voted 2-1 to certify. County Commissioner Couy Griffin, who is also awaiting sentencing for his Jan. 6, 2021, trespassing conviction, voted against certification. Although all 33 counties voted to certify their results, activists berated officials in some counties, seeking to block certification.

Read More

Could Trump’s campaign against the media come back to bite conservatives?

US President Donald Trump reacts next to Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, after speaking at the public memorial service for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025.

(Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Could Trump’s campaign against the media come back to bite conservatives?

In the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’sapparently temporary— suspension from late-night TV, a (tragically small) number of prominent conservatives and Republicans have taken exception to the Trump administration’s comfort with “jawboning” critics into submission.

Sen. Ted Cruz condemned the administration’s “mafioso behavior.” He warned that “going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again — wins the White House … they will silence us.” Cruz added during his Friday podcast. “They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous.”

Keep ReadingShow less
A stethoscope lying on top of credit cards.

Enhanced health care tax credits expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts. Learn who benefits, what’s at risk, and how premiums could rise without them.

Getty Images, yavdat

Just the Facts: What Happens If Enhanced Health Care Tax Credits End in 2025

The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, we remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.

There’s been a lot in the news lately about healthcare costs going up on Dec. 31 unless congress acts. What are the details?

The enhanced health care premium tax credits (ePTCs) are set to expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts to extend them.

Keep ReadingShow less
Congress Bill Spotlight: No Social Media at School Act

Rep. Angie Craig’s No Social Media at School Act would ban TikTok, Instagram & Snapchat during K-12 school hours. See what’s in the bill.

Getty Images, Daniel de la Hoz

Congress Bill Spotlight: No Social Media at School Act

Gen Z’s worst nightmare: TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat couldn’t be used during school hours.

What the bill does

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN2) introduced the No Social Media at School Act, which would require social media companies to use “geofencing” to block access to their products on K-12 school grounds during school hours.

Keep ReadingShow less
A portrait of John Adams.

John Adams warned that without virtue, republics collapse. Today, billionaire spending and unchecked wealth test whether America can place the common good above private gain.

John Adams Warned Us: A Republic Without Virtue Cannot Survive

John Adams understood a truth that feels even sharper today: a republic cannot endure without virtue. Writing to Mercy Otis Warren in April 1776, he warned that public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without [private virtue], and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.” For Adams, liberty would not be preserved by clever constitutions alone. It depended on citizens who could restrain their selfish impulses for the sake of the common good.

That insight has lost none of its force. Some people do restrain themselves. They accumulate enough to live well and then turn to service, family, or community. Others never stop. Given the chance, they gather wealth and power without limit. Left unchecked, selfishness concentrates material and social resources in the hands of a few, leaving many behind and eroding the sense of shared citizenship on which democracy depends.

Keep ReadingShow less