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Five stories to read about voting rights

Sen. Joe Manchin

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is trying to negotiate a compromise on the For the People Act.

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This week, governors and legislatures across the country took action to change voting rules in a handful of states while Senate Democrats made modifications to the sweeping election overhaul bill known as the For the People Act.

While many state legislatures are debating bills to alternately ease or restrict voting, the most progress has been made in states that are tightening election rules. This week, Texas and Florida took big steps in that direction, while New York became the latest to restore voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences.

Here are five key stories to keep you in the loop on the latest activity.


Senator Joe Manchin Seeks Compromise on Voting Rights Legislation (The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register)

Texas GOP's voting restrictions bill could be rewritten behind closed doors after key House vote (Texas Tribune)

DeSantis signs controversial new election law making it harder for some Floridians to vote (Orlando Sentinel)

Cuomo signs law to restore voting rights to parolees immediately after prison release (CBS News)

Bill to Give Parties Control over Congressional Primaries in Louisiana Dropped (IVN)

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Why the American media and their critics won’t stop telling the same lie

The American media has a bootleggers-and-Baptists problem.

Bootleggers and Baptists” is one of the most useful concepts in understanding how economic regulation works in the real world. Coined by economist Bruce Yandle, the term describes how groups that are ostensibly opposed to each other have a shared interest in maintaining the status quo. Baptists favored prohibition, and so did bootleggers who profited by selling illegal alcohol. And politicians benefited by playing both sides.

There’s an analogous dynamic with the press today.

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So many people, especially young people, have lost faith in America. We have lost belief in our leaders, institutions and systems. Even in one another. Recent years have seen us roiled by debates over racial injustice, fatigued by wars, troubled by growing inequities and disparities, and worried about the very health of our democracy. We are awash in manufactured polarization, hatred and bigotry, mistrust, and a lack of hope.

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