Important new paper. State & local candidates are like 'unlike those fatcats in DC, I'm close to the people' but lower level elections have the most unrepresentative electorates & donors, lowest info, and are most influenced by money.

ungated: sites.bu.edu/kleinstein/fil…

This is not a new GOP idea. Kansas enacted a proof of citizenship law more than a decade ago and it was blocked by a federal judge. Kansas was unable to show evidence of non-citizen voting and it wound up putting registration of 30k Kansans in jeopardy. documentcloud.org/documents/4521…

Democrats should call Trump and Speaker Johnson's bluff on noncitizen voting (which is exceedingly rare). Offer a bipartisan compromise -- a national id card that serves as voter registration. Like the bipartisan immigration deal, you'll see them backtracking

Florida keeps sliding into far-right authoritarianism because Republicans won the 2018, 2014, & 2010 elections for governor by a 1-point margin or less.

That let Republicans stack Florida's Supreme Court, gerrymander the state, suppress voting, etc.

Every election matters

Having accurate election results data is critical for safeguarding voting rights & fair redistricting, & for generally understanding politics.

Some states have easily accessible centralized databases. But most don’t, & they leave it to underfunded county or municipal governments

Nebraska legislators have passed a bipartisan bill that would remove the two-year waiting period for citizens convicted of a felony to regain their voting rights after finishing their sentence, including parole & probation
abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/n…

Idaho's conservative Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit challenging Republicans' 2023 law that banned student IDs from being used for voter ID.

Idahoans can use a concealed weapon license for voter ID, but not an ID issued by a state school or college
boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-gover…

Republican House speaker in AZ, who has refused to take action to undo abortion ban, now suggests he might try to put a measure on the ballot to try to undermine the abortion rights amendment that will likely go before voters

Trump and Mike Johnson are poised to announced bill to ban non-citizen voting, which is already illegal in the United States and virtually non existent. Rachel Leingang explains why this is a stunt that feeds into recent fearmongering theguardian.com/us-news/2024/a…

America's 'care infrastructure' is woefully lacking, but Sondra Goldschein (Sondra Goldschein) and the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy (@FamFriendlyEcon) are fighting to improve it. Listen to this week's episode of The Downballot podcast here --> player.captivate.fm/episode/3171d8…

The fate of democracy in Wisconsin will once again be on the line in 2025 with an election for the state Supreme Court.

Liberals gained a 4-3 majority in 2023 & used it to replace the GOP's gerrymanders with fairer maps, but they're now defending an open seat in 2025

If these Arizona justices who backed the abortion ban lose this fall & Dem Gov. Katie Hobbs is reelected in 2026, she could appoint a court majority by 2030.

However, the GOP stacked the commission that screens judicial nominees, & Dems may need to flip AZ's Senate to undo that

In 2022, a court ruled Georgia's system for electing its utility regulation board violated Black voters' rights (all members are white-backed Republicans).

The 2022 elections were canceled with appeals ongoing, & now the members could stay in office years after their terms ended

Mississippi Senate amends judicial redistricting plan. #msleg

An amended version of the Senate plan would leave both the Circuit and Chancery Courts with 55 judges. The legislation now heads to the House for consideration.

magnoliatribune.com/2024/04/11/mis…

GOP-led states told SCOTUS they’d do bad-faith disqualifications if Trump were removed, SCOTUS caved to the threat, and now those states are thinking about doing it anyways.

Exhibit A for why the federal government should administer federal elections with uniform ballot access requirements and voting accessibility standards.

Many other democracies do just that

Breaking news:

ACLU of Florida and local groups win gerrymandering trial against the City of Miami. Judge ruled that the city's five districts violate the U.S. Constitution.

'Today, the Court permanently prevents the City from racial gerrymandering any longer'
wlrn.org/government-pol…

Talk of a special session in Nebraska to change the electoral vote rules has REALLY picked up, with the governor signaling he'll call one if the votes are there.

The GOP may change the legislature's rules to suspend the fillibuster to do this, per: nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/04/09/pil…