Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

The state of voting: Aug. 22, 2022

voting legislation updates

This weekly update summarizing legislative activity affecting voting and elections is powered by the Voting Rights Lab. Sign up for VRL’s weekly newsletter here.

The Voting Rights Lab is tracking 2,195 bills so far this session, with 581 bills that tighten voter access or election administration and 1,048 bills that expand the rules. The rest are neutral or mixed or unclear in their impact.

With little legislative activity over the summer, much of the focus now is on executive action by state agencies. The highlights last week occurred in Wisconsin (where the Elections Commission reactivated thousands of voters’ registrations) and Iowa (where the secretary of state announced grants to improve accessibility in and around polling places.)

Looking ahead: The Voting Rights Lab is watching a number of state court cases that are moving, including two new lawsuits challenging Arizona’s new proof of citizenship requirement and an open question of whether North Carolina’s legislature had the authority to refer a voter ID amendment to voters.

Here are the details:


The Wisconsin Elections Commission reactivates more than 30,000 voters’ registration. In 2021, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the WEC unconstitutionally purged tens of thousands of voters from the rolls when it failed to give voters notice of, and opportunity to avoid, deactivation in July of that year. On August 12, the WEC reactivated the registrations of 30,554 voters in accordance with a stipulation filed by the parties last month. The stipulation also requires the WEC to notify voters facing deactivation before removing them from the rolls, providing them with the opportunity to take any necessary action to avoid deactivation if they so choose.

The North Carolina Supreme Court limits the authority of the state’s racially gerrymandered legislature. In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court conclusively determined that 28 legislative districts in North Carolina were drawn in a manner that violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Separately, in 2018, the General Assembly enacted legislation to put an amendment on the ballot that would create stricter state voter ID requirements. Last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that because the 2018 legislature was composed of a substantial number of legislators from districts that had been unconstitutionally racially gerrymandered, it lacked complete authority to refer the amendment to voters. The state Supreme Court remanded the ongoing litigation over the voter ID amendment back to the trial court for consideration of additional questions.

Iowa counties receive funds to improve access for voters with disabilities. Secretary of State Paul Pate announced that his office will make $1,000 grants available to each of the state’s 99 counties to fund improvements to polling place accessibility for voters with disabilities. Nearly 300,000 Iowans have a disability. Iowa counties may use the additional funding directly on accessibility infrastructure or to provide training on how to better meet the needs of voters with disabilities.

Lawsuits challenge Arizona’s new proof of citizenship requirement. On Tuesday, the Arizona Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander for Equity Coalition filed a lawsuit challenging two newly enacted bills, H.B. 2492 and H.B. 2243, for requiring voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship – and allowing county recorders to cancel a voter’s registration if that proof is unavailable or if there is suspicion that the voter is not a U.S. citizen. Last Monday, the Democratic National Committee and Arizona Democratic Party filed a separate lawsuit challenging H.B. 2492, which was promptly consolidated with other litigation. The plaintiffs in the other new suit have moved to similarly consolidate their case with ongoing litigation.

Read More

Could Trump’s campaign against the media come back to bite conservatives?

US President Donald Trump reacts next to Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, after speaking at the public memorial service for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025.

(Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Could Trump’s campaign against the media come back to bite conservatives?

In the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’sapparently temporary— suspension from late-night TV, a (tragically small) number of prominent conservatives and Republicans have taken exception to the Trump administration’s comfort with “jawboning” critics into submission.

Sen. Ted Cruz condemned the administration’s “mafioso behavior.” He warned that “going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again — wins the White House … they will silence us.” Cruz added during his Friday podcast. “They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous.”

Keep ReadingShow less
A stethoscope lying on top of credit cards.

Enhanced health care tax credits expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts. Learn who benefits, what’s at risk, and how premiums could rise without them.

Getty Images, yavdat

Just the Facts: What Happens If Enhanced Health Care Tax Credits End in 2025

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.

There’s been a lot in the news lately about healthcare costs going up on Dec. 31 unless congress acts. What are the details?

The enhanced health care premium tax credits (ePTCs) are set to expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts to extend them.

Keep ReadingShow less
Congress Bill Spotlight: No Social Media at School Act

Rep. Angie Craig’s No Social Media at School Act would ban TikTok, Instagram & Snapchat during K-12 school hours. See what’s in the bill.

Getty Images, Daniel de la Hoz

Congress Bill Spotlight: No Social Media at School Act

Gen Z’s worst nightmare: TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat couldn’t be used during school hours.

What the bill does

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN2) introduced the No Social Media at School Act, which would require social media companies to use “geofencing” to block access to their products on K-12 school grounds during school hours.

Keep ReadingShow less
A portrait of John Adams.

John Adams warned that without virtue, republics collapse. Today, billionaire spending and unchecked wealth test whether America can place the common good above private gain.

John Adams Warned Us: A Republic Without Virtue Cannot Survive

John Adams understood a truth that feels even sharper today: a republic cannot endure without virtue. Writing to Mercy Otis Warren in April 1776, he warned that public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without [private virtue], and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.” For Adams, liberty would not be preserved by clever constitutions alone. It depended on citizens who could restrain their selfish impulses for the sake of the common good.

That insight has lost none of its force. Some people do restrain themselves. They accumulate enough to live well and then turn to service, family, or community. Others never stop. Given the chance, they gather wealth and power without limit. Left unchecked, selfishness concentrates material and social resources in the hands of a few, leaving many behind and eroding the sense of shared citizenship on which democracy depends.

Keep ReadingShow less