Election category, Page 86
One thing voters agree on: Fresh voices needed in politics
NEW YORK — As he campaigns for a Manhattan congressional seat against fellow Democrats twice his age, 38-year-old Suraj Patel harnesses the frustration of his generation toward those who have held office for decades. In his telling, Reps. Jerry Nadler, 75, and Carolyn Maloney, 76, are part of a crop...
Fake electors may provide easiest path for DOJ to charge Trump
As Congressional hearings into Jan. 6 pause for an August break, the focus turns to the U.S. Justice Department, which must decide whether to prosecute former President Donald Trump. Although a House committee investigating the assault on the Capitol has laid out an array of potential crimes committed by the...
10 things we learned from Jan. 6 committee hearings on the Capitol attack
The events leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, represent more than just the day when Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol. In a series of public hearings, the House committee investigating the deadly Capitol attack has laid out the “arc of carnage” that was sparked months earlier on Election Night...
Senators propose changes to electors law after Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators agreed Wednesday on proposed changes to the Electoral Count Act, the post-Civil War-era law for certifying presidential elections that came under intense scrutiny after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. Long in the...
Pennsylvania certifies primary election in 64 of 67 counties
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania has certified the results of primary elections from 64 of 67 counties, leaving out three counties in a growing legal dispute over whether to count mail-in ballots on which the voter didn’t handwrite a date, state officials said Wednesday. Certification of the remaining three counties — Berks,...
Trump, Pence rivalry intensifies as they consider 2024 runs
NEW YORK — Former Vice President Mike Pence is becoming increasingly brazen in his willingness to counter former President Donald Trump. The two will hold dueling rallies in Arizona on Friday as they stump for rival candidates who offer dramatically different visions of the Republican Party in a critical battleground...
Trump-backed Cox wins Maryland governor primary over Hogan’s pick
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Dan Cox, a far-right state legislator endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary for Maryland governor on Tuesday, defeating a moderate rival backed by outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan. Cox will face the winner of the highly competitive Democratic primary in the November general election....
Doug Mastriano campaign blames ‘default Facebook setting’ for deleted videos
PHILADELPHIA — Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor, is sounding the “fake news” alarm over a Monday article about his disappearing Facebook videos, claiming that they were removed due to a “default Facebook setting” that automatically deleted the videos after 30 days. His campaign did not address why the...
GOP establishment steps up push to block Trump ally in Ariz.
TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has already helped block one of former President Donald Trump’s allies from winning the Republican nomination for governor in a crucial battleground state. Now he’s hoping for a repeat in his own backyard. Ducey is part of a burgeoning effort among establishment Republicans...
Doug Mastriano helps celebrate the political movement that made him at film premiere
LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP — Sen. Doug Mastriano largely set aside his standard stump speech Saturday night to pay an homage to the latest grassroots conservative movement in Pennsylvania of which— for the moment — he’s field general as he fights with Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro to become the state’s...
No major problems with ballot drop boxes in 2020, AP finds
ATLANTA — The expanded use of drop boxes for mailed ballots during the 2020 election did not lead to any widespread problems, according to an Associated Press survey of state election officials across the U.S. that revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft that could have affected the results....
The show goes on: Mastriano film gets home for premiere
In what its producers are celebrating as a win over “wokeness,” a film celebrating the populist strain of conservatism that reached a new pinnacle in Pennsylvania with state Sen. Doug Mastriano’s win in the Republican gubernatorial primary has found a home for its Saturday night premiere. “The Return of the...
John Fetterman’s fund-raising broke a record as he won the nomination for U.S. Senate
John Fetterman’s cash machine is still rolling — and gaining speed. The lieutenant governor raised $8.3 million for his U.S. Senate campaign between his Democratic primary win and the end of June, according to campaign figures shared first with The Inquirer. That was part of a record-setting $11 million haul...
Pa. lawmakers agreed to a big election funding deal — with strings attached
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers have agreed to give counties $45 million in new election funding as part of the state budget,...
What does the proposed abortion constitutional amendment mean for Pennsylvania?
The Pennsylvania Senate passed a constitutional amendment proposal Friday that, if enacted, would ensure the state constitution does not grant rights to abortions. The passage doesn’t have any immediate effect on the state’s abortion laws. The process for this amendment started late Thursday night, when Republicans proposed the change with...
Wisconsin Supreme Court disallows absentee ballot drop boxes
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s conservative-controlled Supreme Court ruled Friday that absentee ballot drop boxes may be placed only in election offices, dealing critical defeats to Democrats in the battleground state. The court did not address the question of whether anyone other than the voter can return his or her own...
What is the independent state legislature doctrine, and why does it matter for Pa.?
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case that could reshape election policy across the country, including...
Facing threats, some election workers weigh whether to stay
After polls closed in New Mexico’s primary last month, a worker returning ballots and other election materials to the clerk’s office in Santa Fe was followed by a partisan election observer driving so close that mere inches separated their bumpers. The poll worker was so rattled by the ordeal that...
Feds sue over new Arizona citizenship proof law for voting
PHOENIX — The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday sued Arizona over a new law requiring people who use a federal form to register to vote to provide additional proof of citizenship if they want to vote for president or using the state’s popular vote-by-mail system. The law signed by...
Covid nursing home deaths claim is mainstay on Pennsylvania governor campaign trail
HARRISBURG — Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor, has made a campaign staple out of the allegation that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s policy of readmitting covid-19 patients from hospitals to nursing homes caused thousands of deaths — a baseless claim for which no investigator or researcher has provided any...
Ousters, upsets halfway through 2022 primary election season
COLUMBIA, S.C. — More than halfway through a tumultuous primary season, voters have rendered verdicts in a number of contests, many of which featured candidates arguing they best represented a continuation of policies favored by former President Donald Trump. While not on the ballot himself, Trump has played a role...
Justices to hear GOP appeal that could limit state courts over redistricting, elections
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear an appeal from North Carolina Republicans that could drastically limit state court authority over congressional redistricting, as well as elections for Congress and the presidency. The justices will consider whether state courts, finding violations of their state constitutions, can order...
How Pennsylvania keeps its voter rolls clean and updated
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. This article is available for reprint under the terms of Votebeat’s republishing policy. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s voter rolls have been a frequent target of conservative politicians who believe the...
Fight over 2020 election records lands in Pennsylvania court
HARRISBURG — A county judge in Williamsport has to decide whether to force officials to provide voter-by-voter electronic election records after the state Office of Open Records ruled Pennsylvania law makes them confidential. Heather Honey, who heads the Lebanon, Pa.-based firm Haystack Investigations, sought in October a digital copy of...
Judge says NYC can’t let noncitizens vote in city elections
NEW YORK — A judge on Monday blocked New York City from letting noncitizens vote for mayor and other municipal offices, a measure that Republicans had challenged as unconstitutional. In January, New York became the first major U.S. city to grant widespread municipal voting rights to noncitizens, though none had...
