WASHINGTON — President Trump would be able to dispatch Secret Service agents to polling places nationwide during a federal election, a vast expansion of executive authority, if a provision in a Homeland Security reauthorization bill remains intact.Source: Trump wants new authority over polling places. Top election officials say no...

Imagine this year’s ballot with no Utah candidates listed as Republicans. Or, alternatively, the ballot listing only those Republicans who gathered signatures, while others who went through the GOP convention are shut out.Source: No Republican candidates on the Utah ballot this year? It’s a possibility after planned fix falters....

Deep in the heart of conservative Texas lies its liberal capital of Austin — a city jokingly referred to as “a blueberry in the tomato soup of Texas.” Given its left-leaning politics, it might seem strange that of Austin’s six congressional representatives, five are Republican.Source: How Texas Republicans’ gerrymandering could backfire in 2018...

Irvine Councilwoman Melissa Fox is the latest Orange County politician to exploit a rarely used fundraising account to shelter large campaign donations – in her case a $10,000 contribution from a liberal political action committee. But Fox isn’t alone.Source: Politicians use a once obscure committee to cloak campaign money...

Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign agreed to pay a $14,500 fine to the Federal Election Commission last month after the agency ruled the independent’s 2016 presidential campaign had accepted an illegal contribution from the Australian Labor Party.Source: Bernie Sanders Campaign Pays Fine Over ‘Illegal’ Contribution From Foreign Political Party...

A handful of provisions tucked into a pair of must-pass bills under consideration in Congress this month could reshape the financing of political campaigns and give further cover to donors who want to keep their contributions private.Source: Provisions attached to budget bills could reshape campaign finance laws...