Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Republicans close to ending same-day registration in Montana

Montana Capitol

Lawmakers in Montana's Capitol are expected to work out differences in their voter registration bills and send a final version to the governor.

Dennis Macdonald/Getty Images

Republican lawmakers need only clear a couple minor hurdles in their effort to eliminate same-day voter registration in Montana.

On Tuesday, the GOP-majority state Senate voted 32-18 along party lines to endorse a bill that would end voter registration at noon the day before Election Day. Their endorsement all but guarantees the legislation will soon reach Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte's desk.

Montana is currently one of 21 states, plus Washington, D.C., that allow voters to both register and cast a ballot on Election Day. Since Montana adopted the policy in 2006, thousands have taken advantage of this last-minute registration option. Same-day registration would be nationally mandated with enactment of HR 1, the comprehensive voting rights and democracy reform bill Democrats are pushing against solid Republican resistance in Congress.


Republicans in Helena who support the bill say Montanans already have plenty of time to register to vote before an election and the same-day policy places an undue burden on election administrators.

"Elections, you know, they don't just pop up out of the blue. They don't come along and surprise us. We know they're coming. The dates are there. We need to register ahead of time," said GOP state Sen. Mike Cuffe, who sponsored the bill.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

But Democrats who oppose this effort called the legislation "voter suppression." They argue limiting registration opportunities will make it harder for people, particularly Native Americans and those with disabilities, to participate in elections.

Last month, the state House passed the bill along party lines. The state Senate will vote on the legislation one more time and then both chambers will need to concur on the amendments. Once it clears the Legislature, the measure will be sent to the governor for final approval.

Read More

The Fragile Ceasefire in Gaza

A view of destruction as Palestinians, who returned to the city following the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, struggle to survive among ruins of destroyed buildings during cold weather in Jabalia, Gaza on January 23, 2025.

Getty Images / Anadolu

The Fragile Ceasefire in Gaza

Ceasefire agreements are like modern constitutions. They are fragile, loaded with idealistic promises, and too easily ignored. Both are also crucial to the realization of long-term regional peace. Indeed, ceasefires prevent the violence that is frequently the fuel for instability, while constitutions provide the structure and the guardrails that are equally vital to regional harmony.

More than ever, we need both right now in the Middle East.

Keep ReadingShow less
Money Makes the World Go Round Roundtable

The Committee on House Administration meets on the 15th anniversary of the SCOTUS decision on Citizens United v. FEC.

Medill News Service / Samanta Habashy

Money Makes the World Go Round Roundtable

WASHINGTON – On the 15th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and one day after President Trump’s inauguration, House Democrats made one thing certain: money determines politics, not the other way around.

“One of the terrible things about Citizens United is people feel that they're powerless, that they have no hope,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Ma.).

Keep ReadingShow less
Half-Baked Alaska

A photo of multiple checked boxes.

Getty Images / Thanakorn Lappattaranan

Half-Baked Alaska

This past year’s elections saw a number of state ballot initiatives of great national interest, which proposed the adoption of two “unusual” election systems for state and federal offices. Pairing open nonpartisan primaries with a general election using ranked choice voting, these reforms were rejected by the citizens of Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada. The citizens of Alaska, however, who were the first to adopt this dual system in 2020, narrowly confirmed their choice after an attempt to repeal it in November.

Ranked choice voting, used in Alaska’s general elections, allows voters to rank their candidate choices on their ballot and then has multiple rounds of voting until one candidate emerges with a majority of the final vote and is declared the winner. This more representative result is guaranteed because in each round the weakest candidate is dropped, and the votes of that candidate’s supporters automatically transfer to their next highest choice. Alaska thereby became the second state after Maine to use ranked choice voting for its state and federal elections, and both have had great success in their use.

Keep ReadingShow less
Top-Two Primaries Under the Microscope

The United States Supreme Court.

Getty Images / Rudy Sulgan

Top-Two Primaries Under the Microscope

Fourteen years ago, after the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the popular blanket primary system, Californians voted to replace the deeply unpopular closed primary that replaced it with a top-two system. Since then, Democratic Party insiders, Republican Party insiders, minor political parties, and many national reform and good government groups, have tried (and failed) to deep-six the system because the public overwhelmingly supports it (over 60% every year it’s polled).

Now, three minor political parties, who opposed the reform from the start and have unsuccessfully sued previously, are once again trying to overturn it. The Peace and Freedom Party, the Green Party, and the Libertarian Party have teamed up to file a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Their brief repeats the same argument that the courts have previously rejected—that the top-two system discriminates against parties and deprives voters of choice by not guaranteeing every party a place on the November ballot.

Keep ReadingShow less