America’s media are obsessed with Washington, but in our federal system much of the law-writing takes place in the 50 states. This is one reason to welcome a new index detailing how well each state protects the First Amendment right to engage in political speech.Source: The Free Speech States...
Under the terms of the omnibus spending bill voted on by the House, states will receive $380 million within months to start to strengthen the security of our nation’s election infrastructure.Source: Federal Funds for Election Security: Will They Cover the Costs of Voter Marked Paper Ballots?...
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and a three-judge panel of the Middle District of Pennsylvania both ruled earlier this week that the new congressional district map drawn by the Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania Supreme Court could remain in effect.Source: Democrats Are Using Courts To Take Redistricting Power Away From Legislatures...
Cambridge Analytica garnered headlines across the world on Friday as Facebook formally suspended the company from its platform over allegations that it had improperly received and retained data on tens of millions of Facebook users from an academic researcher thaSource: The Problem Isn't Cambridge Analytica: It's Facebook...
Someone reportedly found the piece of paper and turned it over to The Intercept, which said that it confirmed its authenticity. The aide, who works as a staff assistant in the White House, did not return requests for comment for the report.Source: White House staffer left email passwords on official stationery at bus stop: report...
Staffers doing campaign work have to make sure they’re not doing it on government time. But there’s no set way to keep track of that time. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo) With campaign season here, Hill staffers are likely to find their duties expanding with election-related tasks.Source: Plenty of Pitfalls for Hill Staffers Doing Campaign Work...
Debra Cleaver, the founder of Vote.org, says that it made sense to have federal elections on a Tuesday back in the mid-1800s, when Congress determined that it was a convenient day for Sabbath-observing farmers to make a trip into town.Source: Should Employers Give You Election Day Off? These Companies Think So...
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...
