News
Warning of revived Russian meddling gives fresh rationale for election security bills
The fresh warnings from intelligence officials that Russia is again intruding in the presidential race have given congressional Democrats an opening to revive their uphill push for election security legislation.
Several proposals for bolstering American democracy's protections against interference by foreign adversaries have passed the House but are stymied in the Senate, where GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell maintains they're unnecessary and designed by Democrats to get under President Trump's skin.
After news broke Thursday night about the warning delivered to lawmakers by the intelligence community's top election security official — who told them Russia is already at work meddling with the election in hopes of helping Trump win again — Minority Leader Chuck Schumer excoriated the GOP in particularly harsh terms.
GOP vows to spend as much as Democrats on voting rights lawsuits
The presidential race, the battle for dominance in Congress and contests for control of statehouses across the country will ultimately be determined in the ballot box. But a battle joined this week in another arena, the courtroom, could have a major impact on those results.
The Republican National Committee and President Trump's re-election campaign announced Thursday they will be spending at least $10 million attempting to repel a series of voting rights lawsuits the Democrats have filed in battleground states from coast to coast.
The vow suggests a pitched dollar-for-dollar legal battle that could shape the turnout, and thereby the outcome, in dozens of contests. A month ago the Democrats said they would spend at least $10 million pressing their allegations that all manner of election laws in purple states are unconstitutional or violate federal law.
Meet the Reformer: Amber McReynolds, crusading for voting in our pajamas
After 13 years in Denver's Office of the Clerk and Recorder — more than half the time as elections director, earning a reputation for bringing innovation and simplicity to the conduct of the city's contests — Amber McReynolds switched sides 18 months ago. She is now among the most prominent champions of conducting elections by mail as CEO of the nonpartisan National Vote at Home Institute. She is also co-author, with Stephanie Donner, of the recently published "When Women Vote" (Alden-Swain Press), which promotes ways to combat barriers to the ballot box based not only on gender but also race, disability and more. She has a master's from the London School of Economics and graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Her answers have been edited for length and clarity.
What's democracy's biggest challenge, in 10 words or less?
Honoring its promise to equally include all voices.
Debate
When presidential campaigns end, what happens to the leftover money?
Richard Briffault of Columbia Law School breaks down the different ways candidates can spend their cash once they drop out of the race.
Community
Can American Democracy Survive the 2020 Elections?
This full-day event at the University of California, Irvine on Feb. 28 will break down the role of media, law, political norms, and technology in assuring acceptance of election results.
Worth a Look
Two centrist former House members, Democrat Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania and Republican Carlos Curbelo of Florida, spent an hour Friday morning on C-SPAN touting the virtues of cross-partisan collaboration and taking questions from curious and only occasionally hostile callers. They are co-chairmen of the Unite America advisory board and spent time pitching three of the democracy reform group's top objectives: opening primaries to all voters regardless of party, taking political mapmaking out of partisan hands and using ranked-choice voting in more contests. (Both said they might not have been defeated had those reforms been in place.)