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Ditching QR codes, Colorado will count votes a more old-fashioned way

Colorado is dropping the use of QR codes from ballots statewide, saying the ubiquitous square bar codes are susceptible to hacking that could manipulate election results.

This will make Colorado, likely one of the most hotly contested states in the 2020 presidential contest and also home to one of next year's premier Senate races, the first state where all ballots get tabulated "using only human-verifiable information," officials said in an announcement Monday.


"Voters should have the utmost confidence that their vote will count," said the new secretary of state, Democrat Jena Griswold. "Removing QR codes from ballots will enable voters to see for themselves that their ballots are correct and helps guard against cyber meddling."

Under the current system, the choices made by an in-person voter are turned into a QR code that's embedded on each paper ballot, although the voter cannot "proofread" the code for accuracy. In time for the 2020 election, the state will deploy a system for counting the votes based on the colored-in ovals on each ballot.

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The Democracy for All Project

The Democracy for All Project

American democracy faces growing polarization and extremism, disinformation is sowing chaos and distrust of election results, and public discourse has become increasingly toxic. According to most rankings, America is no longer considered a full democracy. Many experts now believe American democracy is becoming more autocratic than democratic. What does the American public think of these developments? As Keith Melville and I have noted, existing research has little to say about the deeper causes of these trends and how they are experienced across partisan and cultural divides. The Democracy for All Project, a new partnership of the Kettering Foundation and Gallup Inc., is an annual survey and research initiative designed to address that gap by gaining a comprehensive understanding of how citizens are experiencing democracy and identifying opportunities to achieve a democracy that works for everyone.

A Nuanced Exploration of Democracy and Its Challenges

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America Is Not a Place, It’s an Epic Road Trip
empty curved road
Photo by Holden Baxter on Unsplash

America Is Not a Place, It’s an Epic Road Trip

Despite its size, Afghanistan has only a single highway running through it. It’s called National Highway 1, or Ring Road, and I spent a little time on it myself years ago. It has no major intersections, not really. Just 1,400 miles of dusty road that cuts through mountains and across minefields to connect small towns and ancient cities.

Over many decades, America helped build and rebuild Ring Road to support free trade and free movement throughout the country.

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A “Bad Time” To Be Latino in America

person handcuffed, statue of liberty

AI generated

A “Bad Time” To Be Latino in America

A new Pew Research Center survey reveals that most Latinos in the United States disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration and the economy during his second term, underscoring growing pessimism within one of the nation’s fastest-growing demographic groups. Conducted in October, the survey highlights widespread concerns about deportation efforts, financial insecurity, and the broader impact of Trump’s policies on Hispanic communities.

Key Findings from the Pew Survey
  • 65% disapprove of Trump’s immigration policies, citing heightened deportation efforts and increased immigration enforcement in local communities.
  • About four-in-five Latinos say Trump’s policies harm Hispanics, a higher share than during his first term.
  • 61% of Latinos believe Trump’s economic policies have worsened conditions, with nearly half reporting struggles to pay for food, housing, or medical expenses in the past year.
  • 68% feel their overall situation has declined in the past year, marking one of the bleakest assessments in nearly two decades of Pew surveys.

Immigration Enforcement and Fear of Deportation

The study found that about half of Latinos worry they or someone close to them might be deported, reflecting heightened anxiety amid intensified immigration raids and arrests. Many respondents reported that enforcement actions had occurred in their local areas within the past six months. This fear has contributed to a sense of vulnerability, particularly among mixed-status families where U.S. citizens live alongside undocumented relatives.

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