State Elections

SEATTLE — This spring, as the coronavirus spread across Washington, a team of stalwart volunteers set up signature-gathering drive-thrus outside churches and stores. Their aim: to put a referendum on the November ballot overturning a new law that required public schools to... Read More

MISSOULA, Mont. — Bradshaw Sumners watched throughout February as COVID-19 hot spots developed in major American cities, waiting to see when the coronavirus pandemic would manifest in Montana. When it finally did, life for the Livingston resident and father of... Read More

WASHINGTON — During a global pandemic, Kansas voters will have a choice between two doctors offering competing remedies for the current crisis and the health care system as a whole. In the race for Kansas’ open U.S. Senate seat, U.S.... Read More

WASHINGTON — If you’ve turned on a television in the Kansas City area recently, you’ve probably seen Bob Hamilton’s face. He’s one of 11 names on Kansas Republicans’ Aug. 4 primary ballot for the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen.... Read More

Arizona, once the rock-solid Republican home of party legends John McCain and Barry Goldwater, could well have its first Democratic legislature in almost three decades next year. If it does, Republicans will have COVID-19 to blame. Arizona’s Senate and House... Read More

COLUMBIA, S.C. — On an unprecedented primary election day, reports of problems at polling stations across South Carolina’s Richland County have been rolling in. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic that led to increased requests for absentee ballots, there has been a... Read More

WASHINGTON — As Donald Trump carried Arizona on his way to the White House four years ago, voters were simultaneously ushering another nationally renowned Republican with polarizing views on law enforcement and immigration out of office. Now Joe Arpaio is... Read More

WASHINGTON — An unprecedented shift in American democracy is underway, as more states and counties turn to voting by mail. But as jurisdictions prepare for a pandemic-riddled presidential election, the threat of a financial crisis at the U.S. Postal Service... Read More

WASHINGTON — When Montana Gov. Steve Bullock launched his bid last year for the Democratic presidential nomination, he said he aimed to “defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people’s voice.” Although his White House effort... Read More

WASHINGTON — Election Day is now less than six months away, but most Americans have set aside a presidential campaign that’s been upended by the coronavirus pandemic. While the coronavirus has tossed the mechanics of politicking in flux for the... Read More

WASHINGTON — Despite opposition from President Donald Trump, many local Republican election officials across the country are continuing to push for expanding mail-in voting ahead of November’s election. The novel coronavirus outbreak has made voting in person a health hazard:... Read More

WASHINGTON — States are expecting an increase in voters wanting to mail in their ballots as the coronavirus pandemic has made in-person voting potentially dangerous. Some people have questioned whether mail-in ballots are secure. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said... Read More

WASHINGTON — Cash-strapped states, which Congress just pumped $150 billion into, will nonetheless have to pony up in order to access new election security grants in the massive new coronavirus aid package signed by President Donald Trump. The $2.3 trillion... Read More

It was an unusual way to spend a Thursday morning in January to say the least. Though the 2017 House of Delegates election was for the most part in its rear view mirror, the Virginia State Board of Elections had... Read More

National political parties are targeting a handful of competitive state legislative chambers this year, where the majority parties can draw favorable district lines — with the potential for gerrymandering — after the 2020 census. The state legislative campaign arms of... Read More

A federal judge said he will allow Georgia to begin a sweeping purge of its voter rolls Monday, just hours after he initially put the potential removal of more than 300,000 inactive voter registrations on hold. U.S. District Judge Steve... Read More

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling for a recount. Cuomo pitched legislation Monday as part of his planned 2020 State of the State address that would mandate automatic manual recounts in close elections across the state and lay... Read More

ATLANTA — Until her old concrete-block precinct shut down, Maggie Coleman lived about a mile from a place to cast her ballot in rural Georgia. Now, she has to drive nearly 10 miles, past cotton fields and fallow farms, to... Read More

PHILADELPHIA — When votes were tallied last month using new voting machines in Northampton County, it was quickly obvious that something had gone wrong. The numbers were so clearly inaccurate that a judge ordered the machines impounded, scanners were brought... Read More

Ohio's Secretary of State on Wednesday referred the names of 18 voters to prosecutors for allegedly casting multiple votes in the 2018 mid-term election. Secretary Frank LaRose said the voters were identified through the Electronic Registration Information Center, a coalition... Read More

WASHINGTON - "The thing about Texas is that people looking at it from the outside tend to have skewed view of what goes on here," Joshua Blank said the other day. We had turned to Blank, manager of polling and... Read More

ATLANTA — Democratic presidential candidates sent text messages to some of the 313,000 people Thursday whose voter registrations could be canceled in Georgia, emphasizing their support for voting rights a day after their debate in Atlanta. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker,... Read More

WASHINGTON - On Tuesday, November 5, voters in two states will cast their vote for governor, while in four states, the makeup of the legislature will be determined -- noteworthy all on their own because they will have a significant... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Californians will be able to register to vote on Election Day at local polling places and voting centers under legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, a potentially significant step toward boosting turnout in key contests... Read More

WASHINGTON -- NewDEAL on Thursday unveiled the esteemed panel of judge for this year's New Ideas Challenge. This year's judges come to the challenge with a wealth of policy experience and expertise, bringing perspectives from leading research and policy organizations,... Read More

ATLANTA — The Democratic Party of Georgia teamed with an arm of the voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams to launch a high-dollar effort to flip the Republican-controlled state House. The Legislative Victory Fund, unveiled on Wednesday, is a... Read More

WASHINGTON — Health care is emerging as a prime contrast between candidates in the Kentucky gubernatorial race this fall, where Republican incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin and Democratic state Attorney General Andy Beshear are locked in a heated battle. A number... Read More

After weeks of contentious debate in the state legislature, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp last week signed legislation that will replace the state's electronic voting machines with a new system that produces a back-up paper ballot. The legislation, House Bill 316,... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In the days leading up to California’s primary three years ago, the complaints from unaffiliated independent voters started pouring in. They were promised they could vote in the closely watched Democratic race for the White House, but... Read More