Jen reports on threats to democracy in states across the country. She previously covered elections and local government at the Houston Chronicle and at Houston’s NPR station. She loves voting early on Halloween.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) threatened Houston with a state takeover of its elections on Thursday — an escalation of long-simmering GOP threats to gain control of voting in the fourth-largest city in the United States.
State officials have sorted through more than 300,000 signatures gathered to block Republicans’ new Missouri congressional map, as the fate of the GOP gerrymander remains in legal limbo. The officials rejected one-third of signatures as invalid based on the date they were collected – a decision that referendum organizers are challenging in court.
With the Florida legislature set to convene next week, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced Wednesday that he will call a special session on redistricting in April, adding the Sunshine State to the list of places where Republicans aim to give themselves an electoral advantage in the 2026 midterm elections.
President Donald Trump is facing sharp criticism for bypassing Congress and conducting an overnight military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro, the authoritarian leader of Venezuela, and bring him to the United States to stand trial.
Much like replacing a smoke detector or coming down with the flu, it’s best if we only have to deal with redistricting once per decade. And yet, here we are, mid-decade, wading through nonstop redistricting news because 77 million people voted for a convicted felon who will happily demolish democracy like it’s the East Wing of the White House if it helps him hold on to power in the 2026 midterm elections.
Missourians filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking a court to stop the state from using its new congressional map until voters have the chance to approve or reject the measure in a referendum.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a potentially monumental case next year about whether a mail ballot must be received by Election Day to count. Though a ruling is still months away, the case has already led at least one state to scrap its grace period thanks to the uncertainty of how the court will rule.
Maryland is taking new steps toward redistricting in 2026, with a state committee now soliciting congressional map proposals and engaging the public.
When Republicans in Missouri claimed last week that a gerrymandered congressional map was already in effect, they dealt a major blow to voters who want the final word in the state’s redistricting battle. But pro-voter organizers say there’s still a path forward for voters to block the map — and they’re ready to keep fighting.
Republicans and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argued in federal court this week that California’s new redistricting plan constitutes an illegal racial gerrymander — and not a legal partisan one, like Democrats claim.