When the U.S. was established as an independent country in 1776, theU.S. Constitutiongave the states control ofsuffrage(voting rights). Individual states then began codifying disenfranchisement laws in their constitutions. For example, Kentucky’s first constitution (1792) provided the right to v...
Politicians are deeply divided overrestoring the right to vote to felons. Tayna Fogle, a Kentucky felon, had her rights restored 10 years ago. But it took her 15 years to get there. Want to increase or decrease voter turnout in your state? Try your hand at passing legislation togame the...
Finally, Kentucky passed a broad law (H.B. 574) with the support of the Republican-controlled legislature and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. The law made the Brennan Center list of restrictive laws because it shortened the window to apply for a mail ballot and banned collecting and delivering...
Republican-controlled legislatures in 10 states -Tennessee, Florida, Idaho, South Dakota, Montana, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Oklahoma- have passed laws in the last four years banning RCV from all elections. LGBTQ+ rights Voters in a few states will decide on state ...
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican efforts to tighten voting restrictions across the U.S. are getting underway in Texas, where state GOP leaders helped push unsupported claims of irregularities in the last year's presidential election.
Those measures—some of which were eventually struck down in the courts—included voter ID laws; onerous restrictions on voter registration; the closure or relocation of polling stations that had served predominantly minority voters, forcing them to travel long distances or to wait in long lines to...
AKentuckybillthatprohibits the governor and secretary of statefrom changing election laws in an emergency, asthey did last yearto allow anyone to cast an absentee ballot amid the pandemic. A pair ofArkansasbillsthattighten the state’s voter ID law— most notably, toremove the optionfor ID-les...
Democratic arguments against the new laws. Traveling in Kentucky last week, McConnell urged corporate leaders to "stay out of politics" and warned there would be unspecified consequences for speaking out against the new laws. He later backed off those comments, but said the corporate leaders were...
the move was spurred by municipalities in a handful of states letting noncitizens vote in local elections. North Dakota, Alabama, Florida, Colorado, Ohio and Louisiana have all adopted the measurein recent yearsand it’s on the ballot in eight others, including ...
Editor’s Note:Joshua A. Douglas is a law professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law who specializes in election law and voting rights. He is the co-editor of “Election Law Stories.” Follow him on Twitter@JoshuaADouglas. The opinions expressed are his own. ...