Latest news with #voterID
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some good news about political polarization: It can change
PHILADELPHIA — Voters in one of the most divided states in the country moved closer together on immigration, climate change and voter ID requirements after spending just a few days together. A diverse set of nearly 200 Pennsylvanians from the state's big cities, far-flung towns and upscale suburbs found common ground on those and a number of other hot-button topics after meeting in a hotel in downtown Philadelphia last month as part of an audacious experiment: If people got offline and actually talked face-to-face, would they become less polarized? Political scientist James Fishkin, who leads Stanford University's Deliberative Democracy Lab, has tested that theory across the globe, and each time the answer has been yes. But every year in the modern era of hyper-partisan American politics, it has become a riskier bet to make. Even in President Donald Trump's second term, though — as wars rage across the globe, technology rapidly evolves and disaffected populists in both parties surge — the results came back the same. Good-faith conversation can still help turn down the temperature on even some of the most controversial issues in national politics. 'When people have strong views, they very often have never considered the other side. And a lot of political scientists say, 'Well, that's because they're entrenched and calcified and they're in their filter bubbles,'' Fishkin said. 'But they're not quite calcified. They are movable.' Here's how the experiment known as 'America in One Room: Pennsylvania' worked: Over the course of four days, voters broke into groups of a dozen or so people to discuss a wide range of policy proposals with a moderator who helped keep the peace. The voters were selected to represent the state's electorate demographically, politically and geographically. They heard from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a 30-year-old Republican state lawmaker and advocacy group leaders across the political spectrum. And throughout the event, they took opinion surveys, the results of which were shared with POLITICO ahead of their official release. Support for a national proposal to hand out more visas to so-called low-skilled workers doubled from only 25 percent of participants at the beginning of the study to 50 percent by the end of deliberations. The number of voters favoring a plan to work with other nations to adopt net-zero greenhouse gas emission policies rose from 42 to 55 percent after they exchanged views. Pennsylvanians came together on conservative ideas, too. Voter ID requirements went from winning over 68 percent of voters to 73 percent — and became backed by a majority of Democrats. Six in 10 voters initially championed free college tuition at public colleges, but support dropped to 46 percent by the end of the event. The findings underscore the extent to which social media, geographic sorting and partisan echo chambers often fuel partisanship in the U.S. — and point to potential fixes. 'When you have long-form ability to discuss politics face to face, you can convey nuance and you can understand the emotions, drivers and backgrounds of the people that you're speaking to,' said Henry Elkus, a co-organizer of the event and founder of Helena, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit with a wide-ranging mission to find solutions to some of the world's biggest problems. 'I think that's the real lesson here,' he said, 'is that democracy does work as intended when people actually are civil and can sit down with one another.' But the fight against polarization has only gotten harder in recent years. Voters' faith in democracy has eroded since the organizers first gathered the biggest-ever in-person representative sample of American voters in 2019 and proved that extremism melts away in optimal conditions. Trump has aggressively tested the limits of presidential power, daring Congress and the courts to stop him. The polarization of media — including social media — has deepened. Elkus isn't deterred by those trends, saying, 'You don't tell firefighters to stop fighting a fire if it seems hopeless.' He argued that democracy 'has to be updated' and 'this project is an attempt to interject and kind of help that growth.' One participant in the event, 32-year-old HVAC technician Matthew Drummond, said he preferred learning about policy issues by talking about them with other Pennsylvanians to following the news or social media. 'It allows you to be able to change your mind,' said Drummond, a Trump supporter from the deep-blue Philadelphia suburbs of Montgomery County. 'Hearing other people's views, it can play a factor.' Michele Berkowitz, another attendee who talked through issues in the breakout group with Drummond, said the project 'sounds wonderful in theory.' But the 73-year-old retiree from the purple Bucks County — a fan of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — was skeptical of its real-world impact. 'Unless the politicians and the people that make policy and people that work in the consultancies and such can actually take the information gleaned from us and apply it to something to make change, I don't know,' she said. The organizers of the experiment said they are working to make the process available to larger groups of people, including through the use of artificial intelligence. Ultimately, they hope to bring it to millions. They have also been teaming up with elected officials to try to show that their so-called deliberative polling process can be utilized to craft policy — and make the difference that Berkowitz wants. The speaker of the Pennsylvania state House, Democrat Joanna McClinton, attended the event and said that she plans to use the results to help influence voting rights and election administration legislation she has introduced. McClinton said she will 'leverage the report's findings to prioritize the policies that garnered the most support.' Along with showing that voter ID is popular, the poll revealed that a proposal to expand in-person early voting was backed by 71 percent of participants by the end of the event, up from 61 percent initially. The same plan shifted from garnering a minority of support among Republicans to a majority. The organizers also polled participants on their feelings about the state of American democracy before and after the event and found a significant shift. Three-quarters said they were dissatisfied with it at the beginning; by its conclusion, that number dropped to 54 percent. Still, that's a majority of the voters who walked out of the long weekend still feeling dissatisfied with how democracy is going in the country.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC Republicans unveil sweeping elections bill. Could it ‘purge' nonpartisan staff?
North Carolina House Republicans unveiled a broad elections bill that could convert about a third of the State Board of Elections' nonpartisan civil service staff into political appointees, alongside a host of other changes to ballot counting, voter ID and more. Lawmakers released the amended bill, House Bill 958, late Wednesday night and pushed it through a 30-minute committee hearing without public comment on Thursday morning over the objections of Democrats, who said it would lead to a 'purge' of the agency. Rep. Phil Rubin, a Wake County Democrat, said the bill would exempt the agency from 'the rule that you have to hire the best person for the job and that you can't hire and fire based on politics — and I cannot think of an agency where that is more important than the Board of Elections.' The bill is unlikely to get a full vote anytime soon as the legislature plans for an extended summer recess. But it could emerge as a key piece of legislation — and source of debate — once lawmakers return. It comes just a month after Republicans gained a majority on the State Board of Elections and ousted longtime Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell, replacing her with a lawyer who has worked for the state's top Republican lawmakers. If the bill passes, the new director, Sam Hayes, would gain the ability to make 25 positions within the agency exempt from the State Human Resources Act — allowing him to hire and fire them at will. Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Hayes rejected the idea that the bill would lead to a purge, saying instead that it would ensure he 'can put people in these positions that align with my vision for the agency — that is not a partisan vision. 'There are a number of things I've laid out that I would think that anybody, Democrat, Republican or independent or third party could could get on board with,' he said. '... Watch what we do here before you pre-judge it. I have not made any drastic changes and what I'm looking to do is to make elections more efficient, more secure and most importantly, follow the law.' In addition to the staffing changes, the bill also makes a wide variety of amendments to existing election law. Many of these provisions got limited debate time due to the short committee meeting, prompting Democrats to unsuccessfully seek to delay a vote. HB 958 softens some ballot counting deadlines passed last year in Senate Bill 382, a controversial power shift bill passed in the final days of the lame duck legislature's veto-proof Republican supermajority. The bill would give counties more time to count absentee and provisional ballots — though still significantly less than they had before SB 382. Thursday's bill would also ban ranked choice voting statewide, a practice that has never been widely implemented in North Carolina but was recently in the news following the New York City mayoral election and the apparent primary win of Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani. HB 958 would also clarify state law to say that a voter's ballot cannot be counted if they die between the time their ballot was cast and 6:30 a.m. on Election Day. This matter drew controversy in the November election after Wake and Rowan counties counted some votes from people who died before Election Day. Another provision in the bill would ban state and county election board members from making partisan political statements — a policy largely already in place. However, Democrats took issue with another portion of this section that appears to prohibit elections officials from encouraging voters to turn out for elections — even in a nonpartisan way. 'We don't want to encourage turnout for a particular candidate, but just at large, I think that we would like for our county and elections administrators to promote voting,' Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat, said. Rep. Hugh Blackwell, a Burke County Republican and the committee's chair, said the section was intentional but that changes may come in future versions of the bill. 'The idea is that we want the state board to focus on the conduct of the election and that the responsibility for turnout is better handled by other folks,' he said. 'We were trying to draw a line and we may not have gotten it just at the sweet spot.' The bill also addressed an issue brought about during Jefferson Griffin's unsuccessful six-month legal battle to overturn his loss in the 2024 state Supreme Court election. It would clarify that military and overseas voters are required to provide photo ID to vote. These voters were previously exempted from the requirement, prompting Griffin to challenge thousands of these ballots from voters in Democratic-leaning counties. Thursday is the last day of legislative action before lawmakers leave for a summer recess following the failure of House and Senate Republicans to agree on a comprehensive state budget.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New election laws going into effect in July
CHEYENNE – Regulating Wyoming's elections was arguably one of the top priorities for the state Legislature in this year's legislative session, with dozens of election-related bills filed for consideration. However, only a fraction of these bills made it to the governor's desk. One of them, House Bill 79, 'Bond elections-voter threshold requirement,' was vetoed by Gov. Mark Gordon. Another bill, HB 156, 'Proof of voter residency-registration qualification,' was allowed to become law without his signature. While Gordon agreed only U.S. citizens and Wyoming residents should be allowed to vote in the state's elections, he had significant legal concerns about the bill. 'Because I believe in adequate checks to ensure only qualified electors can vote, I am allowing this bill to become law, despite the likelihood that it will invite litigation,' Gordon said in a March 21 statement. Here is a breakdown of new election-related laws that will go into effect, starting July 1. Proof of residency, citizenship Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, former chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, was the primary sponsor of HB 156. It sets a new residency requirement to vote in Wyoming, requiring a person to be a bona fide state resident for at least 30 days prior to Election Day. Voters must prove state residency and U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, and the bill is effective starting with the August 2026 primary election. It also gives the secretary of state rulemaking authority over which forms of identification to prove Wyoming residency and U.S. citizenship are accepted. Secretary of State Chuck Gray's office held a public comment period on the new voter registration rules from May 5 through June 20. His office held an in-person and virtual public comment event earlier this month at the state Capitol, where all attendees expressed support for the rules change. The Equality State Policy Center recently filed a lawsuit in United States District Court for the District of Wyoming challenging HB 156. The lawsuit claims HB 156 violates both state and federal law and threatens to deprive legitimate Wyoming voters of their right and freedom to vote. In response to the litigation, which names himself and all 23 of Wyoming's county clerks, Gray said it is a 'meritless attempt' by the far left 'to undermine the common-sense election integrity measures Wyomingites want.' Ban on ranked-choice voting Rep. Joe Webb, R-Lyman, was the primary sponsor of HB 165, 'Ranked choice voting-prohibition.' His bill prohibits ranked-choice voting in all Wyoming elections. This method of voting allows the electorate to rank candidates by order of preference. The cast ballots are tabulated in multiplied rounds, with the elimination of each candidate until a candidate with the most votes is declared a winner. Election funds Starting July 1, only public funds can be used to pay for the costs of elections. Gillette Republican Rep. Christopher Knapp's HB 228, 'Prohibition on private funds for conducting elections,' prohibits county clerks and other officials responsible for conducting elections from accepting 'any donation in the form of money, grants, property or personal services from an individual or nongovernmental entity' related to funding election processes. Federal funds used to conduct elections, donated meals to election workers and the use of private real property as a polling place are exempted under this bill. HB 337, 'Prohibiting foreign funding of ballot measures,' places restrictions on foreign national contributions to ballot measure campaigns. Wyoming is now the 10th state to put these restrictions in place, according to Ballotpedia. Any political action committee or group/organization pushing a statewide initiative or referendum is now required to file a statement 'related to funding from prohibited foreign sources,' under HB 337. Foreign nationals are considered a prohibited funding source under this bill. Other election laws In order to form a new political party, the deadline to file a petition with the secretary of state's office changed from June 1 to May 1 under Senate File 166, 'Political party formation-amendments.' The petition can be circulated no earlier than March 1, instead of April 1, of the year preceding the general election. Finally, Cheyenne Republican Rep. Ann Lucas' HB 318, 'Maintenance of voter lists,' creates specific maintenance requirements of voter lists in regard to driver's licenses and identification cards. There is already an agreement in current law between the secretary of state and Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) to match voter registration data with driver's licenses to verify voter registration. Lucas' bill requires using this information to determine a voter's citizenship, if the voter subsequently received a driver's license from another state or any other evidence that makes a person ineligible to vote. WYDOT is required to provide a monthly list of all people who have indicated a noncitizen state when obtaining their driver's license or ID card to the secretary of state. The secretary of state is allowed under the bill to utilize the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to verify the citizenship of registered voters in Wyoming. The bill also authorizes investigative powers to the secretary of state and county clerks to lawfully investigate if evidence shows the voter moved to another state and, based on results, mail notice of intent to cancel that person's voter registration in Wyoming.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge rules language of voter ID referendum doesn't need to change
Jun. 13—A Superior Court justice on Friday affirmed the language of a statewide referendum question that would require photo identification to vote. A group campaigning to require photo identification while voting had sued the secretary of state over the wording of the question. "I take seriously my constitutional responsibility to write referendum questions as clearly and understandably as possible," Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a statement Friday afternoon. "I'm pleased that the Superior Court ruled that the ballot question regarding changes to Maine election laws met the standards set forth in Maine law." The proposal to require photo identification from voters at Maine polling places and adopt other voting restrictions qualified for this November's ballot in February. The ballot question reads: "Do you want to change Maine election laws to eliminate two days of absentee voting, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, end ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, limit the number of drop boxes, require voters to show certain photo ID before voting, and make other changes to our elections?" Bellows and other opponents of the referendum have criticized advocates for promoting the measure only as a voter ID mandate when it would also make it harder to vote absentee and make other changes to election laws that officials say would be difficult and expensive to implement. Supporters of the referendum, Voter ID for ME, claimed in a statement last month that the wording misrepresents their proposal, saying it "buries the core intent" and that "it fails to meet the constitutional and statutory standards of clarity, accuracy, and impartiality." Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, who is helping lead the campaign to require voter ID in Maine, said she is disappointed in the outcome. "But, we're also confident that Mainers are going to support this common sense measure, despite Secretary of State Bellows' best efforts to confuse the issue," Libby said in a phone call Friday. View this document on Scribd She said the campaign is "still considering future options." "The vast majority of Mainers do support voter ID across party lines," Libby said. "We are looking forward to becoming the 37th state with voter ID as law in November." The court concluded "that the question as formulated by the secretary is understandable and not misleading." The ruling rejects the petitioners' claims that the question is too difficult for voters to understand due to technical language, specifically the term "ongoing absentee voter status," and is vague in regard to the term "make other changes to our elections." The decision found that the language "does not render the question not understandable" and states that "no ballot question could practically identify every one of the twenty-seven changes to Maine's election laws proposed by the initiative, nor is the secretary required to formulate a question that does so." Other terms that the petitioners claimed were vague were also deemed not to compromise a voter's ability to understand them. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa Secretary of State announces reelection campaign
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate announced that he was running for reelection on his social media platforms on Saturday. Military parade marks Army's 250th anniversary amid protests In the video, he says that over his last decade in office, he has made it more secure to vote in the state by implementing voter ID and his efforts around cybersecurity. During his time in office, he said that Iowa has broken records for voter registration and participation in elections. His current term ends in 2027; he has held the office from 1995 to 1999, and then again from 2015 to the present day. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
