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Webinar rewind: How to make sure your vote counts

Webinar: How to make sure your vote counts

With legal fights over the election being waged across the country and disinformation clouding the truth about voting systems, Americans can be forgiven for their confusion about how to cast a ballot this fall. Because each state sets its own rules — for registering, getting and returning vote-by-mail ballots, timetables for balloting in person and so many other things — keeping it all straight can be difficult for both voting rights advocates and individual voters.


The Fulcrum hosted a live discussion in which we discussed the realities of voting during the coronavirus pandemic and resources that you can share with friends and family.

The discussion was moderated by The Fulcrum's editor-in-chief, David Hawkings, and featured:

    • David Levine, elections integrity fellow, Alliance for Securing Democracy
    • Jack Noland, research manager, RepresentUs
    • Eliza Sweren-Becker, Democracy Program counsel, Brennan Center for Justice

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    Kevin Kiley Left the Republican Party Over Gerrymandering. Now He's Testing Whether an Independent Can Beat the Map Drawn to Defeat Him.

    U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) on Capitol Hill on January 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.

    (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

    Kevin Kiley Left the Republican Party Over Gerrymandering. Now He's Testing Whether an Independent Can Beat the Map Drawn to Defeat Him.

    Independent voters now represent the largest share of the American electorate, and yet they remain almost entirely unrepresented in Congress. Both major parties have spent decades optimizing for their bases, leaving the near majority of Americans who identify as independent with the choice of either voting for a party candidate they don't fully support or staying home.

    A handful of high-profile independent candidates are trying to change that in 2026. They are often covered as fringe candidates whose stories are told through the lens of how they'll impact the outcome between a Republican and a Democrat, rather than on their own terms. This series exists because independent voters deserve better than that.

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    Veterans Day. US soldiers. US army. USA patch flag on the US military uniform and USA flag.

    A record number of veterans, especially women veterans, are running for Congress in 2026, bringing military leadership and public service to the campaign trail.

    KairosDee/Getty Images

    In Lady Veterans We Trust

    Many people who have served, or are still serving in the military, are not thrilled with the state of our country. There are plenty of active duty members who wish they could quit–and many of them are in my DMs asking for my advice–which might be why the number of military personnel inquiring about conscientious objection has risen by 1,000% since the start of the Iran war. Whether they joined to patriotically serve their country or simply for the promise of stability and upward mobility, a draft dodger who “finds the notion of military service difficult to understand, and the idea of volunteering to serve especially incomprehensible” is now holding them hostage in an indefinite war against Iran.

    Veterans feel an obligation to speak up against the betrayal. 752 of them are running for Congress in 2026. A record number of them are women.

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    In this photo illustration, Predictions market sites are shown on electronic devices on February 25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Online prediction market platforms, such as Polymarket and Kalshi, allow people to place bets on wide-ranging subjects such as sports, finance, politics and currents events.

    Prediction markets are expanding beyond finance into politics, war, and public policy. Explore the ethical, democratic, and legislative questions they raise.

    Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Betting on Crisis: Why Prediction Markets Are a Threat to Democratic Trust

    Imagine opening an app on your phone and placing a bet on whether peace talks between two countries will fail, a conflict will escalate, or a terrorist attack will occur before the end of the year.

    For a growing number of people, that is no longer a hypothetical scenario.

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    AI Chatbots for Kids Should Act Like Tools, Not Friends

    Close-up of AI chatbot on mobile

    Getty Images

    AI Chatbots for Kids Should Act Like Tools, Not Friends

    During the rise of the Internet, as the World Wide Web moved from government and academic settings to family homes, parents worried about the exposure of their children to predators in online chatrooms. A generation later, as social media became central to young people’s lives, the dangers of platforms like Facebook and Instagram to children’s mental health moved to the forefront of the national conversation.

    Now, as lawmakers and parents continue to grapple with how to keep children safe on social media, there’s a new danger already taking shape: AI-powered chatbots that simulate friendship, emotional intimacy, and care with children who may not be able to tell the difference.

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