We reported this week that the Fort Worth sheriff was flouting state law requiring outside investigations into jail deaths, which have skyrocketed on his watch. Fort Worth Report says a Texas agency is now pressuring the sheriff to address the issue:
State says Tarrant County violated law requiring independent jail death investigations | Fort Worth Report
NEW: As November’s presidential race continues to heat up, Bolts responds to reader questions about what’s happening downballot.
Bolts
What’s on Your Local Ballots: Your Questions Answered - Bolts
Bolts responds to six reader questions about what’s happening downballot.
Many Republicans turned hard against Alaska's new voting system after Sarah Palin lost to Mary Peltola in 2022. Palin herself called ranked-choice voting “crazy, convoluted, confusing.” The system is now up for repeal next month.
Bolts
Native Leaders Organize to Defend Alaska's Ranked Choice Voting System - Bolts
The Alaska Federation of Natives is hoping to defeat a November ballot measure that would repeal the state’s new election rules, adopted just fou...
It may not be the hottest item on the ballot, but you should pay attention to the elections for state auditors next month. These offices look into how well government agencies are doing their job, and the person who holds the office can set priorities.
Bolts
What’s on Your Local Ballots: Your Questions Answered - Bolts
Bolts responds to six reader questions about what’s happening downballot.
The Arizona GOP has put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would set new geographic signature requirements for citizen-led initiatives. In short, this would make it prohibitively difficult for future ballot measures to meet the criteria.
Bolts
Arizona Republicans Set Up a Ballot Measure to Squash Future Ballot Measures - Bolts
Editor’s note: Arizonans rejected this ballot measure in November 2024. An initiative to protect abortion access in Arizona has gathered more...
Alan Miller is one of six U.S. prisoners who have survived their execution in the modern death penalty era. “It’s like déjà vu,” he told Bolts staff writer Lauren Gill as he braced for a second execution attempt.
Bolts
“Agony” and “Suffering” as Alabama Experiments with Nitrogen Executions - Bolts
Alabama said Alan Miller’s execution by lethal gas would be “more humane.” He writhed and gasped for air in his final moments.
Advocates in Bozeman, Montana are using a once-in-a-decade chance to reshape local government structure to create more equitable representation and, eventually, more affordable housing policy. NEW in Bolts:
Bolts
To Tackle Housing Crisis, These Organizers Want to First Change How City Hall Works - Bolts
Advocates in Bozeman, Montana are using a once-in-a-decade chance to reshape local government structure to create more equitable representation and...
Pennsylvania tosses thousands of ballots over small errors. A county official told us in February he wanted to create an “ice cream truck” for voting, sending out election workers to help people correct mistakes. His county unveiled this van yesterday:
Bolts
How an ‘Ice Cream Truck’ for Voting Could Stop Pennsylvania Ballots from Being Tossed - Bolts
This pivotal swing state rejects thousands of votes a year over minor mistakes. A new official in Montgomery County wants to make those ballots cou...
Two seats are up for grabs on the Michigan Supreme Court, and the results could flip control to the GOP. A summertime ruling that handed a win for direct democracy shows what is at stake.
Bolts
Direct Democracy Scores a Win in Michigan's High Court. Can It Survive November? - Bolts
Michigan progressives gathered enough signatures in 2018 to put two labor measures on the ballot: one to raise the minimum wage, another to mandate...
33 states are holding supreme court elections next month. While partisan control of the court is on the line in just Michigan and Ohio, many more courts could see their ideological balance affected, including in Kentucky, Montana, and Texas:
Bolts
Your State-by-State Guide to the 2024 Supreme Court Elections - Bolts
The article was updated in September 2024 to reflect summer primaries, filing deadlines, and new developments in Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mont...