Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

The state of voting: Aug. 8, 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 2,187 bills so far this session, with 580 bills that tighten voter access or election administration and 1,042 bills that expand the rules. The rest are neutral or mixed or unclear in their impact.

Last week, a Michigan ballot initiative seeking to create stricter voter ID requirements received enough signatures to allow the Legislature to enact it without the governor’s approval. In Pennsylvania, a court affirmed that voters may vote by mail without having to provide a special reason or excuse, while a federal judge struck down voting restrictions targeting students in Texas.

Meanwhile, of about 4,000 Iowans who regained their right to vote post-incarceration and registered, nearly 77 percent cast a ballot in the 2020 general election. And the Postal Service announced a new division that will focus on ensuring timely and secure delivery of ballots for the November election.

Here are the details:


A Michigan initiative to create stricter voter ID requirements gets sufficient signatures to allow the Legislature to enact it without governor approval. Sponsors of the Secure MI Vote initiative turned in over 500,000 signatures, well over the roughly 340,000 required. The initiative seeks to create a strict photo ID requirement for in-person voters and to require voters applying for mail ballots to include a specific ID number on their ballot application. After the state’s Bureau of Elections approves the legitimacy of the submitted signatures (which may take months), the Legislature has 40 days to enact the initiative. If enacted, the initiative would not be subject to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s veto. Since the signatures were submitted well past the June 1 deadline, the initiative will not be on the 2022 general election ballot.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules that all voters may continue voting by mail. In 2019, a bipartisan law expanded mail voting availability in Pennsylvania to all voters. Previously, mail voting was limited to voters with a specific reason or excuse. Following the 2020 election, some of the same legislators who expanded mail voting sued to strike it down as a violation of the state constitution. The trial court struck down the law in January, but on Aug. 2, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld it, affirming the freedom of all Pennsylvania voters to choose to vote by mail.

A federal judge strikes down voter registration restrictions targeting students, others. In 2021, Texas enacted S.B. 1111, which imposed new restrictions on who could register to vote. Specifically, S.B. 1111 prohibited voters from using a P.O. box as a registration address and authorized election officials to require additional evidence of residence from certain voters. On Aug. 2, a federal judge blocked the state from enforcing these rules because they would have made it impossible for some people to register – including part-time and off-campus college students – and would have required an unjustifiable documentation burden for certain voters.

More than three-quarters of Iowans who had their voting rights restored after felony convictions and registered to vote in the 2020 election cast their ballots. Gov. Kim Reynolds pursued voting rights restoration via constitutional amendment for years, but she finally found success ahead of the 2020 general election through an executive order. After the order was issued, 3,955 Iowans who had previously been ineligible to vote due to felony convictions re-registered in time for the 2020 elections. Of those voters, over 77 percent cast a ballot in the election.

The U.S. Postal Service launches a new division focused on election mail. USPS announced on Wednesday the creation of a dedicated division, known as Election and Government Mail Services, which will focus on ensuring timely and secure delivery of ballots for the November election. The plan will involve local “election mail strike teams” prepared to handle any problems that arise.

Read More

elementary school classroom
Urgent action is needed for our beloved public schools to renew civic life, writes Goodwin.
skynesher/Getty Images

Teach Leveraging in Middle and High School To Promote Democracy

It's all about leverage. You hear this from a lot of people. Thomas Friedman said it years ago in one of his Sunday New York Times columns on foreign policy. He was referring to international relations. In particular, he was talking about bargaining leverage, namely the kind of leverage that is needed to motivate an ally or an opponent to change their course of action, whether it concerns trade, military build-up, or political alignments.

People in business, especially sophisticated big business, talk about leverage all the time. Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad wrote a chapter in their famous book, Competing for the Future, that was all about leverage, although the concept of leverage they were talking about was resource leverage, not bargaining leverage.

Keep ReadingShow less
Seattle Votes on Democracy Vouchers Designed To Counteract Wealthy Donors

If approved, the Democracy Voucher program would bring in $4.5 million each year through a property tax.

Road Red Runner/Adobe Stock

Seattle Votes on Democracy Vouchers Designed To Counteract Wealthy Donors

A public funding mechanism for Seattle elections is up for renewal in next week's election.

The Democracy Voucher program was passed 10 years ago. It offers voters four $25 vouchers to use each election cycle for candidates who accept certain fundraising and spending limits. Supporters said it is a model for more inclusive democracy, touting higher turnout, increased participation from more small donors and a more diverse candidate field.

Spencer Olson, spokesperson for the group People Powered Elections Seattle, which supports Proposition 1, said the program helps level the playing field.

"It's really important that people's voices are heard and that candidates can run being supported by their constituents," Olson contended. "Versus just listening to those wealthiest donors, those special interests that have historically been the loudest voices at the table and really dominated what priorities rise to the top."

The voucher is supported by a property tax. Olson and other supporters hope to bring the model statewide. Critics said the program is not big enough to make a difference in elections and has not curbed outside spending. Ballots are due by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Olson pointed out the vouchers have succeeded in encouraging more diverse participation in local elections.

"The intention of the program was to bring a public financing program to Seattle elections to help empower more candidates -- more diverse candidates, women, renters, people of color -- to have equal access to be able to run, and run competitive elections without having to rely on wealthy donors, special interests," Olson emphasized.

Olson noted because the money comes from a dedicated tax levy, unused vouchers roll over to the next election.

"The goal isn't to create an unlimited pot of money but to be able to provide resources for candidates to run with the community's support," Olson stressed. "But it's not a blank check at the same time."

Eric Tegethoff is a journalist covering the Northwest for Public News Service.

Keep ReadingShow less
Defining The Democracy Movement: Rahmin Sarabi
- YouTube

Defining The Democracy Movement: Rahmin Sarabi

The Fulcrum presents The Path Forward: Defining the Democracy Reform Movement. Scott Warren's interview series engages diverse thought leaders to elevate the conversation about building a thriving and healthy democratic republic that fulfills its potential as a national social and political game-changer. This initiative is the start of focused collaborations and dialogue led by The Bridge Alliance and The Fulcrum teams to help the movement find a path forward.

The latest interview in this series features Rahmin Sarabi, founder and Director of the American Public Trust, an organization dedicated to promoting and implementing deliberative democracy practices, such as citizen assemblies.

Keep ReadingShow less
Why Recognizing the State of Palestine Does Not “Reward Hamas”
An Israeli airstrike hit Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Jan. 1, 2024.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Why Recognizing the State of Palestine Does Not “Reward Hamas”

President Donald Trump finally acknowledged there is “real starvation” in Gaza—a reality that has generated momentum among holdout countries to recognize a State of Palestine, as 147 of 193 U.N. members have already done. Trump claims that this impermissibly “rewards Hamas.” Concerns about the optics of “rewarding” a militant group that is not the country’s government should not drive the decision to recognize Palestine as a state or the decision to maintain diplomatic relations with its government.

Countries that have already recognized the State of Palestine point to the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the fact that the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) forms a defined geographic area with a government and a population—the traditional criteria for statehood. Countries that have not recognized the State of Palestine point to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) lack of effective control over parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and to the idea that recognition can be used as future diplomatic leverage. But waiting to recognize a state of Palestine until after there is a negotiated agreement between Israel and the PA is an outdated position that amounts to “kicking the can” down an interminable road.

Keep ReadingShow less