Politics

March 27, 2020 - With daily life disrupted by the novel coronavirus outbreak, voting rights advocates are calling for action to ensure that the 2020 elections are free, fair, accessible, and secure. Here are the steps they say we need to take to protect both public health and democracy.

March 27, 2020 - With the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic forcing Americans to work and study from home, access to high-speed internet is critical — but in the South far fewer people have access than providers report, and many states have erected barriers to community networks.

March 25, 2020 - With the coronavirus pandemic spreading, Floridians are collecting the signatures required to put a constitutional amendment expanding Medicaid on the 2022 ballot. But they'll have to overcome new hurdles imposed by the legislature and survive review by the conservative Florida Supreme Court.

March 24, 2020 - The campaign laid off hundreds of staffers this month, despite its promises to keep them employed through the November election. Now several organizers who worked in states including Florida and Georgia are suing.

March 20, 2020 - When the Democratic primaries shifted from overwhelmingly white states in the Midwest and New England to Southern states with large African-American populations, so did the outcomes. But African-American voters in the South are not a monolith, and there's a significant divide between older and younger black voters.

March 13, 2020 - A skilled nursing facility that's part of the Tennessee-based Life Care Centers of America chain, which is owned by billionaire GOP donor Forrest Preston, is at the center of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in the Seattle area. Stories have emerged of gross mismanagement of the outbreak at the facility, whose corporate owner has also recently been in trouble for Medicare fraud and worker discrimination.

March 13, 2020 - Three Democratic presidential candidates quit the race right before Super Tuesday but after early voters had already cast ballots for them. Ranked-choice voting could prevent citizens from feeling like they wasted their votes — but it's not without its problems.

March 12, 2020 - Membership in Democratic Socialists of America has skyrocketed in the last few years. Chapters have sprung up across the South, and democratic socialists have won local offices in cities including Charlottesville, Virginia, and South Fulton, Georgia.

March 10, 2020 - The Arkansas Supreme Court will have a new conservative majority following Barbara Webb's win in last week's election. Webb's campaign was backed by GOP money, and she faces an allegation of violating ethics rules by campaigning as a Republican for the nonpartisan seat.