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OSCE report on U.S. election notes long list of needed improvements

Earlier this week, Election Dissection went into detail about the Carter Center's work on the U.S. election. Now we note that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has issued its interim report card on America's 2020 vote. The overall grade: needs to improve.


The OSCE, which is known for its work helping countries to build democratic institutions, has observed U.S. elections going back to 2002. It has often noted flaws in the way we vote, but this year the organization is sounding many alarms familiar to pro-democracy groups in the United States.

The OSCE says ongoing litigation about voting rules may mean some voters will be disenfranchised. It notes that COVID relief funds given to the Election Assistance Commission won't be enough to offset added costs of the pandemic. It notes that restrictions like showing an ID will have a disproportionate impact on minority voters. It notes that the media landscape is "highly polarized," and that coverage of the presidential race drowns out attention to state and local campaigns. And it notes that social media companies have only begun to tackle disinformation.

The group examines some uniquely American problems, like the fact that 4.6 million citizens residing in Washington, D.C., and other territories can't vote for members of Congress. And 5.2 million people with criminal convictions can't vote at all. Also that campaign finance is largely unregulated, and that as far as political speech is concerned, corporations and labor unions are legally the same as individual people.

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But the biggest worry of all is President Trump's constant flogging of unfounded rumors of fraud, according to the OSCE. Experts interviewed by the organization "have expressed grave concerns about the risk of legitimacy of the elections being questioned due to the incumbent president's repeated allegations of a fraudulent election process," the report states.

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The Psychology of Politics

An illustration of people and their unique minds.

Getty Images, Carol Yepes

The Psychology of Politics

Have you ever wondered why so many otherwise reasonable people are completely bananas about politics? We all know plenty of normal and decent folks who spout wacky political views. But it’s not just our neighbors who’ve gone mad. All over the country, Americans pick and choose the facts they want to believe, champion policies they don’t understand, hold contradictory views at the same time, admire immoral politicians, loathe decent ones, and so on.

What’s going on here? And why does it seem to be getting worse?

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Addressing Economic Inequity Among Domestic Violence Survivors

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Addressing Economic Inequity Among Domestic Violence Survivors

The 2024 film, “Anora,” about a young woman victimized by sex trafficking, recently won five Oscars at the Academy Awards. Perhaps, it is a signal of more awareness and less stigma surrounding the pervasiveness of domestic violence at all levels of society.

The ongoing lawsuits between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni claiming sexual harassment and violence threat allegations around their film, “It Ends With Us,” about a relationship scarred with domestic violence, demonstrates the thin line between real life and on-screen adaptations.

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Layoffs at the EPA May Impact Federal Funding for Communities

Environmental Protection Agency EPA | Where James works | mccready ...

Layoffs at the EPA May Impact Federal Funding for Communities

WASHINGTON—The federal government laid off more than 60,000 workers in the first two months of 2025, while another 75,000 employees accepted a buyout and voluntarily resigned.

Among those laid off was James Clark, an Environmental Protection Agency employee who lost his job while on his honeymoon. “It’s just very sad to see someone like Elon Musk take a chainsaw on live TV and say what we do doesn’t matter,” said Clark.

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Congress Avoids a Shutdown But at What Cost?

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on March 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Tasos Katopodis

Congress Avoids a Shutdown But at What Cost?

On March 14, the GOP-led Senate passed a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government running until September 30. The bill’s passage was made possible by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s last-minute reversal—shifting from opposing the measure and advocating for a shorter extension to allowing the bill to advance. His decision was purely tactical: he feared Democrats would be blamed for a shutdown.

Schumer’s move provided the necessary votes to overcome procedural hurdles, effectively thwarting a Democratic filibuster. While Republican support for Trump’s budget was unsurprising, the Democratic leadership’s decision to go along was a stunning concession. It handed the Trump administration a significant victory while further eroding Congress’s budgetary authority, shifting more spending power to the executive branch.

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