News
Judge says Wisconsin primary must go ahead, but will anyone show?
Wisconsin's primary is on course for Tuesday after a federal judge ripped the state's leaders for not postponing the election in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic but said he did not have the authority to delay it.
Every other state that scheduled an April contest has postponed or transformed it to almost all vote-by-mail. But Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-led Legislature agreed on no delay and only relatively minor changes — leaving voting rights groups and campaigns predicting confusion, anger and maybe a wave of illness next week.
U.S. District Judge William Conley on Thursday did extend until Friday evening the deadline for applying for absentee ballots, which more than 1.1 million Wisconsinites have already done. He also ordered ballots received as long as six days after election day to get counted and waived a requirement that a witness sign every absentee ballot, which would mean hundreds of thousands of social distancing violations.
Americans much more unified because of the virus, poll finds
Times of crisis often bring people together. And American solidarity has grown in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, a new poll shows.
A vast majority of Americans feel the country has become more unified by its most serious public health emergency in a century, according to a survey released Friday by the nonprofit More in Common, which is focused on combating polarization. But most are also scared about their health and an impending economic depression.
Given how fractured and tribal the country's politics have become in recent decades, the survey offers the slimmest of silver linings: The electorate is capable of finding common ground — it just may take them first confronting a life-altering pandemic.
Tennessee abandons its crackdown on voter registration
Tennessee has repealed regulations on voter registration drives enacted less than a year ago, and under challenge in court ever since.
The rules, enacted and now abandoned by the overwhelmingly Republican General Assembly, appeared to be the strictest in the country governing efforts to sign up new voters.
Proponents said the aim of the law, which included criminal penalties for overzealous canvassers, was to prevent fraudulent sign-ups and intimidation. Opponents sued, saying the restrictions set unconstitutional limits on political behavior and were illegally designed to suppress the vote of minority groups and college students.
Voting during coronavirus eased in three more states. Ohio's still a fight.
The fast-spreading national overhaul of this year's electoral process has started to slow down — because most places that could delay their primaries or ease remote voting at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak have done so.
West Virginia has become the 15th state to postpone its Democratic presidential primary and Idaho joined more than a dozen other states in deciding almost all primary voting will be done with absentee ballots. Maryland decided to allow some in-person voting in what was to have been a totally vote-at-home primary, while the pitched battle over Ohio's primary accelerated.
Meet the reformer: David Eisner, taking a top mediator into its 2nd decade
Inability to reach consensus has long been at the heart of democracy's dysfunction. For the past decade, Convergence has gained notice for getting people on opposite ideological sides to find agreement on seemingly intractable policy fights. This week, founder Rob Fersh handed the reins to David Eisner, whose bipartisan credentials are hard to top. Before spending six years running Repair the World, the largest Jewish service organization, he created the nonprofit All for Good to support the Obama administration's public service initiative and directed AmeriCorps in the George W. Bush administration. He's also chaired the National Constitution Center and been the executive in charge of AOL Time Warner's philanthropy. His answers have been edited for clarity and length
What's the best advice you've ever been given?
Under-promise and over-deliver.
Debate
Asked why they don't vote, here is what people say
"Some people might be indifferent or simply not care, but many who forgo voting have legitimate reasons," argues Andrew Joseph Pegoda of University of Houston.
Community
Worth a Look
Sure, "Tiger King" is getting all the binge-watching buzz. But democracy reformers might consider setting aside two hours for "Slay the Dragon," a documentary about gerrymandering debuting Friday on Amazon and other streaming services. Those who've seen it at conferences and film fests, even those who know the story well, say the partisan power plays illustrated will make the blood boil — but the rise of grassroots activism may help you relax. "Not short on outrage, and just because some of this material is not new doesn't mean it's not worth repeating," the New York Times review concluded.