Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Suit from the right contests Virginia's liberalized absentee rules for the primary

James Bopp Jr.

Prominent conservative election lawyer James Bopp Jr. filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of six Northern Virginia voters.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Almost all the lawsuits about voting during the coronavirus outbreak have come from groups pushing to make things easier. One of the country's most prominent conservative election lawyers is pushing in the other direction.

In his latest suit, James Bopp Jr. has asked a federal judge to stop Virginia from allowing fear of getting sick to be an excuse for voting by mail in the state's congressional primaries next month. A similar federal suit against Nevada's loosening of the rules was dismissed three weeks ago.

At a time of overwhelming sentiment that voters should not have to choose between their health and their civic responsibility, especially when the mail is available as an alternative to a voting booth, Bopp is making a contradictory argument.


His Virginia suit, filed last week, says going to the polls should be no more dangerous than going to the store for basic services — which people in the state are allowed to do even though a statewide stay-at-home order remains in effect until June 10.

"The same social distancing and good hygiene practices — which are effective for preventing the spread of the virus when going out for essential services, like grocery shopping and other essential services — are also an effective way to prevent the spread of the virus for in-person voting," the suit argues.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

The primary has been postponed two weeks to June 23, and Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam has issued an executive order that because of the Covid-19 outbreak anyone may obtain an absentee ballot by claiming the "illness or disability" reason on the application.

It is the last election in the state where any excuse will be required. The General Assembly relaxed the rules this winter, but not before July.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Thursday, arguing that Virginia voters have a constitutional right to cast their ballots by mail in light of Covid-19. Restricting this access could disenfranchise millions, the group says.

Bopp's suit, filed on behalf of six northern Virginia voters, disagrees on both fronts and says Northam has exceeded his emergency powers. That was the argument he used when Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske decreed that anyone could vote by mail in the June 9 primary. A federal judge tossed that suit May 1.

The new suit says a significant increase in the number of people voting absentee could also lead to requested ballots getting lost in the mail, arriving late or never arriving at all.

But attorneys for Virginia say changing the election procedures now — with the June 23 primary just a month away — would cause widespread confusion and voter disenfranchisement.

"And the stakes here are even higher than in a typical case because the challenged actions protect not only citizens' right to vote, but also the health and safety of voters, poll workers, election officials, and others who would otherwise be at risk from a highly contagious virus," the state's lawyers argue in their response to the suit.

Read More

"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

Getty Images, Grace Cary

Stopping the Descent Toward Banana Republic Elections

President Trump’s election-related executive order begins by pointing out practices in Canada, Sweden, Brazil, and elsewhere that outperform the U.S. But it is Trump’s order itself that really demonstrates how far we’ve fallen behind. In none of the countries mentioned, or any other major democracy in the world, would the head of government change election rules by decree, as Trump has tried to do.

Trump is the leader of a political party that will fight for control of Congress in 2026, an election sure to be close, and important to his presidency. The leader of one side in such a competition has no business unilaterally changing its rules—that’s why executive decrees changing elections only happen in tinpot dictatorships, not democracies.

Keep ReadingShow less
"Vote" pin.
Getty Images, William Whitehurst

Most Americans’ Votes Don’t Matter in Deciding Elections

New research from the Unite America Institute confirms a stark reality: Most ballots cast in American elections don’t matter in deciding the outcome. In 2024, just 14% of eligible voters cast a meaningful vote that actually influenced the outcome of a U.S. House race. For state house races, on average across all 50 states, just 13% cast meaningful votes.

“Too many Americans have no real say in their democracy,” said Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano. “Every voter deserves a ballot that not only counts, but that truly matters. We should demand better than ‘elections in name only.’”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hand Placing Ballot in Box With American Flag
Getty Images, monkeybusinessimages

We Can Fix This: Our Politics Really Can Work – These Stories Show How

As American politics polarizes ever further, voters across the political spectrum agree that our current system is not delivering for the American people. Eighty-five percent of Americans feel most elected officials don’t care what people like them think. Eighty-eight percent of them say our political system is broken.

Whether it’s the quality and safety of their kids’ schools, housing affordability and rising homelessness, scarce and pricey healthcare, or any number of other issues that touch Americans’ everyday lives, the lived experience of polarization comes from such problems—and elected officials’ failure to address them.

Keep ReadingShow less
Why America’s Elections Will Never Be the Same After Trump
text
Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

Why America’s Elections Will Never Be the Same After Trump

Donald Trump wasted no time when he returned to the White House. Within hours, he signed over 200 executive orders, rapidly dismantling years of policy and consolidating control with the stroke of a pen. But the frenzy of reversals was only the surface. Beneath it lies a deeper, more troubling transformation: presidential elections have become all-or-nothing battles, where the victor rewrites the rules of government and the loser’s agenda is annihilated.

And it’s not just the orders. Trump’s second term has unleashed sweeping deportations, the purging of federal agencies, and a direct assault on the professional civil service. With the revival of Schedule F, regulatory rollbacks, and the targeting of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, the federal bureaucracy is being rigged to serve partisan ideology. Backing him is a GOP-led Congress, too cowardly—or too complicit—to assert its constitutional authority.

Keep ReadingShow less