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This article first appeared on The Fulcrum Two prominent voting rights groups are attempting to formally intervene so they can fight a Pennsylvania lawsuit that threatens thousands of names on the voter rolls in that marquee battleground state. The suit filed two weeks ago by Judicial Watch, a conservative advocacy group, maintains the state and three bellwether counties are not following federal law requiring regular maintenance to cull registration rosters of people who have moved, died or

New York state cannot cancel the Democratic presidential primary, according to a ruling by a federal judge on Tuesday after top Democratic leaders tried to remove presidential candidates from the June primary ballot. The state’s Democratic leadership reportedly used concerns over Coronavirus as the reason for dropping the presidential contest, yet still planned to move forward with down-ballot races. This prompted an outcry, claiming Gov. Andrew Cuomo was just trying to help presumptive Democra

U.S. Congressman Justin Amash speaking with attendees at the 2017 Young Americans for Liberty National Convention | Photo: Gage Skidmore No sooner than U.S. Congressman Justin Amash (I-MI) announced his exploratory committee to run for president, did members on both sides of the partisan divide react with horror. His announcement unleashed a flood of tweets from both Republicans and Democrats worried that he would "spoil" the election for their candidate. The limited government, constitutiona

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

We very rarely take the time to refute or rebut specific articles that spew disinformation, but we must make an exception for a recent article that wrongfully accuses both election officials and postal workers of bad practice. Real Clear Politics published an op-ed by Mark Hemingway asserting that in the four general elections from 2012-2018, 28 million mailed-out ballots went "missing." But it is not true. The author equated ballots mailed-out but not cast as "missing."  By this logic, all of

It came as no surprise that not long after US Rep. Justin Amash announced his Libertarian bid for president, both major parties took aim at him. Amash points out that there are “[millions] of Americans who aren't represented by either Donald Trump or Joe Biden, who aren't represented by the Republicans or the Democrats.” However, President Trump mocked Amash, saying he likes him “even more than Jill Stein.” Meanwhile former Democratic US Sen. Claire McCaskill ridiculed his campaign, sayin

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

The one silver lining pro-voter reformers see in the midst of these unprecedented and troubling times is that voters are now even more aware of the weaknesses in the US political and electoral process, and they want change. Most states with in-person voting scheduled in April were forced to postpone their primaries or elections until the early summer. Meanwhile, the one state that didn’t cancel its in-person voting, Wisconsin, has now reported at least 19 new coronavirus cases as a result. W

When it comes to changing the rules for gathering signatures to get on the ballot during the coronavirus crisis, some states have been more lenient than others. In Massachusetts, a state court has loosened signature requirements for politicians this year, given the national health concerns. But a federal court in Arizona did not consider doing the same for ballot measure campaigns. Two Arizona campaigns sought permission to gather signatures electronically rather than in person because of Covi

This story was originally published on The Conversation, and later re-published on The Fulcrum. Recent allegations regarding stock trading by members of Congress in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic have raised calls for the investigation of these politicians for illegal "insider trading." But successful prosecutions would be very difficult. Even federal judges struggle with writing clear instructions to jurors in insider trading cases. Often, verdicts are reversed on appeal due to errors i