Author

Zachary Roth

Zachary Roth

Zachary Roth is the National Democracy Reporter for States Newsroom.

Anti-democratic moves by state lawmakers raise fears for 2024 election

By: - September 25, 2023

In Wisconsin, Republican lawmakers are threatening to impeach both the state’s election administrator, who is highly regarded nationally, and a state Supreme Court justice despite a ruling by the state’s judicial commission that the justice had done nothing wrong — effectively nullifying a recent statewide election she won, Democrats say. In North Carolina, a bill […]

Signage at an early voting center

On Democracy Day, newsrooms unite for pro-democracy coverage

By: - September 15, 2023

It’s no secret: U.S. democracy is under serious threat. Politicians use rigged maps to entrench themselves in power, allowing them to ignore the will of voters. Hundreds of members of Congress, state lawmakers, and top state officials — including chief elections officials — deny the results of the last presidential contest. And a leading candidate […]

COLUMBUS, Ohio — MAY 10: Hundreds of protesters against SJR 2 fill the rotunda before the Ohio House session, May 10, 2023, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal)

Not just Ohio: Biased language is the hot new tactic to thwart ballot measures

By: - September 5, 2023

Abortion-rights supporters filed a lawsuit last week against what they call “deceptive” ballot language produced by Ohio officials for the state’s closely-watched upcoming referendum on the issue. But it isn’t just the Buckeye State that’s lately seeing fierce battles over the once-obscure topic of ballot language. In recent weeks, officials in Missouri — where another […]

The Declaration of Independence. (Getty Images)

Americans are worried about democracy. You wouldn’t know it from the GOP debate.

By: - August 28, 2023

There’s a growing feeling, among both experts and ordinary Americans, that our democracy isn’t functioning well — and even that it’s under threat. “American democracy is cracking,” the Washington Post reported August 18. “I’m terrified,” one democracy expert told the paper. “I think we are in bad shape, and I don’t know a way out.” […]

David Leist of Columbus (left), a field organizer for Ohio Citizen Action, hands registered voter Richard Hall a flyer with information while canvassing against Ohio Issue 1

Ohio voters are deciding if it’s too easy to pass ballot measures. Other states are watching.

By: and - August 3, 2023

CLEVELAND — Ohioans over the last century have used the state’s ballot initiative process to pass constitutional amendments that raised the minimum wage, integrated the National Guard and removed the phrase “white male” from the constitution’s list of voter eligibility requirements. Now, lawmakers want to make it much tougher for an initiative to be approved. […]

Medical theme photo with health insurance, money American flag, Medicaid card

As states hunt for new voters, Massachusetts adds thousands via Medicaid applications

By: - July 10, 2023

Massachusetts saw a more-than-five-fold jump in voter registration applications through social service agencies in the last election cycle, new federal data shows. The striking increase comes after the state implemented an automatic voter registration system that includes Medicaid applicants. Any eligible voter in the state who applies for Medicaid is automatically added to the rolls, […]

A group of U.S. Senate Democrats is pressing the Biden administration to make it easier for the millions of Americans who sign up each year for health insurance through a federal website to register to vote. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Federal health insurance website lags in voter registration assistance, Democrats charge

By: - July 6, 2023

A group of U.S. Senate Democrats is pressing the Biden administration to make it easier for the millions of Americans who sign up each year for health insurance through a federal website to register to vote. The lawmakers, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote in a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human […]

Voters cast ballots in New Hampshire

States with low election turnout did little in 2023 to expand voting access

By: - June 19, 2023

This year’s state legislative sessions are almost all wrapped up. And on voting and elections policy, the headlines have largely focused on a new wave of restrictive voting laws passed in big Republican-led states like Florida, Texas, and Ohio, as well as expansive laws approved in Democratic-led states like Michigan, Minnesota, and New York. But […]

The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (Jim Small | Arizona Mirror)

Ruling in Alabama case could boost suits increasing Black voters’ power in other states

By: - June 12, 2023

In one sense, the Supreme Court’s surprise ruling striking down Alabama’s 2022 congressional maps maintains the legal status quo. By 5-4, the justices rejected the state’s attempt to restrict the ability of the Voting Rights Act to block gerrymanders that suppress the power of minority voters. But that dramatically understates the impact of the case, […]

Milwaukee voters go to the polls on Election Day 2022 | Photo by Isiah Holmes

GOP-led states plan new voter data systems to replace one they rejected. Good luck with that.

By: - May 30, 2023

So far this year, seven states, all Republican-led, have left the Electronic Registration Information Center, an interstate compact for sharing voter registration data, and more could follow. Amid the exodus, some states, including Texas and Virginia, have said they plan to create their own data-sharing networks to replace ERIC. Pledging to build a new system […]

Right-wing protesters gather outside the Maricopa County Elections Department on Nov. 4, 2020, demanding that all ballots for Donald Trump be counted. Inside the building, election workers were busy counting hundreds of thousands of ballots. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror

A GOP claim that Michigan purposely tried to encourage voter fraud doesn’t fit with facts

By: - May 8, 2023

Republicans at a recent congressional hearing accused Michigan’s chief election official of deliberately leaving tens of thousands of dead voters on the rolls in order to encourage illegal voting. Even at a time of intense partisan conflict over election policies, it was a strikingly direct charge against a sitting official — and one made not […]

"No vote for you" sign

A top GOP lawyer wants to crack down on the college vote. States already are.

By: - May 1, 2023

 A top Republican election lawyer recently caused a stir when she told GOP donors that the party should work to make it harder for college students to vote in key states. But the comments from Cleta Mitchell, who worked closely with then-President Donald Trump to try to overturn the 2020 election, are perhaps less surprising […]