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As the fight continues across the country to expand safe and secure options for voters to participate in the 2020 elections, 5 nonpartisan organizations collaborated to put on a virtual rally to bolster the cause. March On announced “Vote Safe 2020 Live” on Monday, June 22, which the group calls a “virtual movement to protect the vote this November.” The event was hosted in collaboration with the National Vote at Home Institute, HeadCount, Future Coalition, and The Andrew Goodman Foundation.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum, and was republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. Straight-ticket voting won't be returning to Texas now that a federal judge has rejected an effort by Democrats to maintain the practice. Allowing Texans to cast one quick vote, in favor of one party's entire slate of candidates, has been allowed for a century and was the way two-thirds of 2018 ballots were cast in the second most populous state. But the Republican-maj

That voter suppression is antithetical to democracy seems axiomatic, particularly if democracy is defined as rule by the majority. It is also, however, perhaps the most effective means for a minority to attain and perpetuate control of an elected government. Since it will not do to admit to cheating one’s way to power, voter suppression is generally couched in such euphemisms as “preventing voter fraud,” or “ensuring that only those able to understand for whom they are voting get to cast a ballo

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inadequacies of most elections in the US, specifically when it comes to protecting the right of voters in the midst of a crisis. However, two reforms have taken center stage in the ongoing conversation on how to provide safe and secure elections going forward: vote at home and ranked choice voting. The National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers (NANR), in partnership with Unite America, hosted a virtual discussion over Zoom on Tuesday, June 8, to spotli

This article first appeared on The Fulcrum. DeVore, a Republican state legislator in California from 2004 through 2010, is vice president for national initiatives at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank. With the coronavirus still infecting and killing people, particularly the old and infirm, there have been increasing calls to move America to an all-mail-in ballot for this November's election. This campaign is being advanced through legislation — the economi

This article was first published on The Fulcrum update: A federal appeals court has temporarily put on hold a lower court’s sweeping ruling that would have allowed all Texas voters to qualify to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic. Siding with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday blocked a preliminary injunction issued just a day before by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery. ‍ Everyone in Texas has a constitutional

This article was first published on The Fulcrum Updated Monday afternoon to describe four, not three, lawsuits. Expanding voters' access to absentee ballots across the South during the coronavirus pandemic is the goal of the four newest lawsuits brought by Democrats and civil rights groups. The suits, like a wave of others filed across the country during the public health emergency, attack as unconstitutional and against federal law the limited available reasons for voting at home in Alabama

Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) is (probably) running for president. Amash has toyed with the idea for over a year: Describing himself as an ideal third-party candidate at libertarian conferences and posting cryptic tweets about Americans “deserving another option." But as the months dragged on—the Libertarian party held primary after primary, debate after debate—and Amash remained an onlooker. Speculation began that his flirtation with a national campaign was a ploy to boost fundraising for his camp

Originally published on The Fulcrum. All Kentuckians will get the chance to vote by mail in the June 23 primary under a deal worked out between Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, and Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican. The switch is an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Kentucky is now the 10th state that normally strictly limits mail-in voting, but will make it nearly universal during the pandemic. Thirty-four states allow everyone to vote absentee without citing a rea

Originally published on The Fulcrum. Bernie Sanders ending his campaign, obviating the need for more Democratic presidential primaries, is the biggest news of the week about keeping democracy safe during the coronavirus pandemic. The Vermont senator dropped out Wednesday, hours after the end of a chaotic day of primary voting in Wisconsin that went ahead on schedule even though a federal court is keeping the results sealed until next week. Florida's local election officials and Democrats in T