Voting Reform

The States that Make it Most Difficult to Vote

A report by the Center for Election Innovation and Research compares which states allow voters to cast absentee ballots by mail without an excuse and offer early in-person voting.

  • By Andrea Noble

Nation Has Georgia on Its Mind, but Many States Are Making Voting Easier

Efforts are underway in a number of states to expand voting by mail, early voting and voter registration.

  • By Matt Vasilogambros, Stateline

Texas Senate Advances Bill Limiting How and When Voters Can Cast Ballots, Receive Mail-in Voting Applications

Senate Bill 7 is at the forefront of Texas Republicans’ crusade to further restrict voting in the state following last year’s election.

  • By Alexa Ura, The Texas Tribune

Sports Should Boycott Georgia

COMMENTARY | Major League Baseball can get the attention of conservative politicians who are indifferent to civil rights.

  • By Jemele Hill, The Atlantic

The Second-Class Treatment of U.S. Territories Is Un-American

COMMENTARY | We deserve nothing less than the full rights of citizenship, including the right to vote.

  • By Stacey Plaskett, The Atlantic

Georgia is the Epicenter of the Fight Over How Americans Can Vote

Legislators have filed dozens of bills that aim to change how people vote, and voting rights groups are pushing back.

  • By Barbara Rodriguez, The 19th

Republicans Target Ballot Access After Record Turnout

GOP lawmakers in at least 28 states have introduced more than 100 bills to tighten voting rules.

  • By Matt Vasilogambros, Stateline

The Political-Reform Movement Scores Its Biggest Win Yet

Election changes such as ranked-choice voting and nonpartisan primaries are popping up across the country—and are already upending national politics.

  • By Russell Berman, The Atlantic

Lawmakers Push to Preserve Pandemic Voting Access

“The pandemic made clear just how much voters appreciate having choices in casting a ballot.”

  • By Matt Vasilogambros, Stateline

States Expanded Voting Access for the Pandemic. The Changes Might Stick.

Restrictive ballot-counting laws slowed results.

  • By Matt Vasilogambros and Lindsey Van Ness, Stateline

Pandemic Raises, Lowers Hurdles for Voters with Disabilities

About a sixth of voters have a disability.

  • By Elaine S. Povich, Stateline

With All Eyes on Wisconsin, Partisan Gridlock at State Elections Commission Frustrates Voters and Local Officials

The commission that oversees voting in the swing state has deadlocked along party lines this year on a record number of key issues, resulting in inconsistency, turmoil, and delays.

  • By Vanessa Swales, ProPublica
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Pennsylvania’s New Vote-by-Mail Law Expands Access for Everyone Except the Poor

In America’s poorest big city, language barriers, unstable housing and lack of internet access make voting by mail difficult. So low-income Philadelphia residents will be voting in person, if at all.

  • By Jonathan Lai, Michaelle Bond and Samantha Melamed, ProPublica

College Students in One State Will Still Get to Vote There, Even if They’re Learning Remotely in a Different State

New Hampshire will allow some college students who attend school in the Granite State to cast ballots there, even if remote learning has them living in their home states.

  • By Emma Coleman

Pennsylvania’s Rejection of 372,000 Ballot Applications Bewilders Voters and Strains Election Staff

Most rejected applications were deemed duplicates because voters had unwittingly checked a request box during the primary. The administrative nightmare highlights the difficulty of ramping up mail-in voting on the fly.

  • By Derek Willis, Ryan McCarthy and Jonathan Lai, ProPublica

Texas Can Limit Counties to a Single Ballot Drop-off Location, Appeals Court Rules

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that Texas can mandate only one drop-off location for absentee ballots in each county, reversing a lower court ruling on Gov. Greg Abbott's order earlier this month.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

How One Tribe Is Fighting to Vote Early

The fight over a single early voting site serving a small reservation in Arizona illustrates a continuing struggle by Indigenous communities across the country to have equal access to the ballot.

  • By Matt Vasilogambros and Carrie Levine, Stateline

About 750,000 People Are in Jail On Any Given Day. Can They Vote?

A new report from the Prison Policy Initiative says that most people in jail are eligible to vote, but ultimately won’t be able to due to barriers to voter registration and lack of access to ballots.

  • By Emma Coleman

Supreme Court Rules that Absentee Ballots in One State Must Be Signed by a Witness

Democrats warned that requiring absentee ballots to be signed by a witness would pose a voting barrier during the pandemic. Republicans said it will prevent fraud.

  • By Emma Coleman

Florida AG Calls for Probe of Push to Help People Vote by Paying Off Criminal Debts

After Mike Bloomberg raised $16 million to help people with criminal records vote in the state, some officials said the billionaire is “buying votes” for Joe Biden.

  • By Emma Coleman

Millions Raised to Pay off Debts so Floridians with Criminal Records Can Vote

The money, partially raised by Mike Bloomberg, will go towards paying off the court fines and fees of thousands of people with criminal records, allowing them to vote in the upcoming election.

  • By Emma Coleman