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Donald Trump’s Epstein Mess Keeps Getting Worse

Donald Trump’s Epstein Mess Keeps Getting Worse

How the Trump Administration Abandoned Plans for a Major Cut in Disability Benefits for Older Workers

How the Trump Administration Abandoned Plans for a Major Cut in Disability Benefits for Older Workers

What Bad Bunny Can Teach Us About Leadership, Belonging, and the Power of Place

What Bad Bunny Can Teach Us About Leadership, Belonging, and the Power of Place

​Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Resigns: The Primary Problem Exposes America’s Broken Election System

Presidents can no longer be trusted with pardons

Presidents can no longer be trusted with pardons

Paper ballots win last spot in Democracy Madness Final Four

Democracy and basketball
by designing makes me more alive/Getty Images
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumMay 29, 2020
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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The drive to mandate paper ballots in every election has won the final "regional" bracket in our Democracy Madness tournament — which asks you, the reader, to select your favorite democracy reform idea from among an original list of 64 concepts.

Paper ballots, the top seat in our "Best of the Rest" division, topped second-seeded federal funding for elections in the championship game for this quadrant of the bracket.

When the Final Four kicks off Monday, paper ballots will challenge the winners of the previous regions: ranked-choice voting (Voting region), repealing the Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United case (Money in Politics) and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compac t (Elections).

Tune in on Monday to vote in the Final Four.

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A nurse giving a patient a shot.

A pregnant woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy in Pennsylvania in 2021. Hannah Beier/Reuters.

Hannah Beier/Reuters

Amid Confusing CDC Guidance About Vaccines, Study Highlights New Risk of COVID-19 During Pregnancy

In the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of pregnant women were wheeled into hospitals where they fought for their lives and the lives of the babies they carried.

It took the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until August 2021, eight months after the first vaccine was administered, to formally recommend the COVID-19 shot for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. The CDC had found that pregnant women with COVID-19 faced a 70% increased risk of dying, compared with those who weren’t. They also faced an increased risk of being admitted to the intensive care unit, needing a form of life support reserved for the sickest patients, and delivering a stillborn baby. In recommending the vaccine, the CDC assured them that the shot was safe and did not cause fertility problems.

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A nurse giving a patient a shot.

A pregnant woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy in Pennsylvania in 2021. Hannah Beier/Reuters.

Hannah Beier/Reuters

Amid Confusing CDC Guidance About Vaccines, Study Highlights New Risk of COVID-19 During Pregnancy

In the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of pregnant women were wheeled into hospitals where they fought for their lives and the lives of the babies they carried.

It took the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until August 2021, eight months after the first vaccine was administered, to formally recommend the COVID-19 shot for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. The CDC had found that pregnant women with COVID-19 faced a 70% increased risk of dying, compared with those who weren’t. They also faced an increased risk of being admitted to the intensive care unit, needing a form of life support reserved for the sickest patients, and delivering a stillborn baby. In recommending the vaccine, the CDC assured them that the shot was safe and did not cause fertility problems.

Keep ReadingShow less
Person filling out absentee ballot.

Twenty-six states will elect Secretaries of State in 2026, with key battlegrounds and rising concerns over election deniers shaping the future of U.S. election integrity.

Getty Images, Cavan Images

Why 26 Secretary of State Races in 2026 Could Shape U.S. Election Integrity

The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, we remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.

How many states will be holding elections in November 2026 for Secretary of State:

26 U.S. states will hold elections for Secretary of State. The states are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

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