Author
Matt Vasilogambros
Swing states prepare for a showdown over certifying votes in November
GRAYLING, Mich. — Clairene Jorella was furious. In the northern stretches of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, the Crawford County Board of Canvassers had just opened its meeting to certify the August primary when Jorella, 83 years old and one of two Democrats on the panel, laid into her Republican counterparts. Glaring, she said she was gobsmacked […]
Wanted: Poll workers. Must love democracy.
This week, a coalition of election officials, businesses, and civic engagement, religious and veterans groups will make a national push to encourage hundreds of thousands of?Americans to serve as poll workers in November’s presidential election. Poll worker demand is high. With concerns over the harassment and threats election officials face, and with the traditional bench […]
Though noncitizens can vote in few local elections, GOP goes big to make it illegal
Preventing people who are not United States citizens from casting a ballot has reemerged as a focal point in the ongoing Republican drive to safeguard “election integrity,” even though noncitizens are rarely involved in voter fraud. Ahead of November’s presidential election, congressional and state Republican lawmakers are aiming to keep noncitizens away from the polls. […]
An Eastern Oregon effort to join Idaho reflects the growing American divide
ENTERPRISE, Oregon — This small ranching town, surrounded by towering tree-topped mountains and a valley of rolling grass fields, sits tucked into the northeast corner of the state — both out of the way and right in the middle of a contentious debate. At a meeting late last month, 25 people packed into a stuffy […]
Cities have ways to curb gun violence; feds are giving them more money
When shots ring out on the South and West sides of Chicago, Sam Castro and his team at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago race to the scene of the shooting and to the hospital where emergency responders are treating the gunshot victim. Knowing most of the city’s gun violence is caused by a small cluster […]
Drought hits the Midwest, threatening crops and the world’s food supply
City leaders in Storm Lake, a rural community of 11,000 in Northwest Iowa, are asking residents not to wash their cars or water their yards and gardens during the hottest part of the day. The city also has cut back on watering public recreational spaces, such as ballfields and golf courses. These are highly unusual […]