With Pennsylvania's primary election less than 60 days away, a nonpartisan group is stepping up the pace to educate people on voting by mail and by absentee ballot.

The redesigned mail-in ballot will debut statewide in April for more than eight-million registered voters. The ballot materials have a barcode, so no individual voter can be identified, said Jessica Myers, who co-chairs the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania's voter services. The new ballot has graphics and updated instructions to help voters understand the mail-in process.

"The secrecy envelope has a yellow background with sort of a blue-gray colored watermark that says 'Official Secrecy Ballot.' There are some additional color coding and instructions on the outside of the envelope, including where the voters declaration is," Myers said. "It's prefilled with a '2-0' so that we have fewer people writing in their birthdates."

Myers added that voters are encouraged to write the date that they voted on the ballot before putting it in the mail or a dropbox. Pennsylvanians must be registered voters to request a mail-in ballot. The deadline to register to vote is April 8, and requests for mail-in ballots have to be received by April 16. After it's filled out and mailed by the voter, the ballot must be received by 8 p.m. EDT on Election Day.

Amy Widestrom, the league's Pennsylvania executive director, said voting integrity is a top priority, and contended that the election process in Pennsylvania is secure. In previous elections, she added, analyses of more than 31 million ballots cast found no significant incidence of voter fraud.

"So, only I think 21 were found," Widestrom said. "The bulk of those were errors. People just thought they were voting in the right place, but weren't. There were only five incidences of actual attempted voter fraud out of 31 million cast ballots. So, voter fraud is typically not an issue."

Widestrom added that voters are not permanently on mail-in or absentee ballot lists - but to stay on that list for the year, residents must return the application form. If they don't, then a voter has to request a mail-in or absentee ballot for each specific election. The League also has a website at Vote 411.org here people can look at a sample ballot before they head to the polls or mail in their ballot.

Voting-rights advocates continue their push to restore these rights for formerly incarcerated Mississippians after lawmakers failed to act.

House Bill 1609, which died in the state Senate last week, would have automatically reinstated voting rights for people who complete their sentences and remain felony-free for five years.

Nsombi Lambright-Haynes, executive director of One Voice, said nearly 60 voting-rights bills were introduced during the legislative session, but fewer than 10 survived.

"Those eight that have passed the Senate now go to the governor's desk," he said, "and he can sign them or not sign them and they become law, and those people have their voting rights back. Or he can choose to veto those."

One in ten Mississippians does not have a voice at the ballot box because of a prior felony conviction.

Lambright-Haynes said the campaign is also working to overturn a 134-year-old Mississippi lifetime voting ban law that prevents people convicted of certain crimes from casting a ballot.

It is a difficult process to get voting rights restored in Mississippi, Lambright-Haynes said. Formerly incarcerated persons must hire an attorney to have their record expunged, and then get a pardon from the governor - or they can seek help from state lawmakers.

"You can get your representatives to introduce a bill on your behalf," he said, "and that bill is introduced in whatever house that representative is a part of, either the House or the Senate, and it's voted on."

State Rep. Otis Anthony, D-Indianola, said the folks re-entering society should be granted the right to fully participate in all aspects of life.

"These are human beings who have families," he said. "These are people who have been convicted, they've been incarcerated, they've paid their debt to society. And yet, we're not allowing them to be fully restored. Let's not take the human side out of the equation."

The bill would need two-thirds approval of the House and Senate. The Fifth Circuit Court heard arguments in a lawsuit challenging the lifetime voting ban in January, but has not yet ruled in the case.


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New York groups are providing student protesters with resources to help sustain demonstrations safely and peacefully, as the war between Israel and Hamas wears on.

In the weeks since they began, student protesters have faced arrests, rubber bullets, and other crowd-breaking tactics by law enforcement. Students want universities and colleges to divest from Israel amid the country's ongoing war with Hamas. Others have shown support for Israel.

Kalaya'an Mendoza, director of mutual protection for the group Nonviolent Peaceforce, said there are many ways to remain safe when protesting.

"If you're going to any protest, action, or demonstration, always make sure you have a buddy and always make sure that someone else knows where you are at and when you plan to be home safe," Mendoza urged. "Number two, practice situational awareness. Situational awareness is essentially understanding what's happening around you."

Mendoza emphasized protesters should also pay attention to exit points, be aware of threats, be prepared with water, a snack and necessary meds, and carry a mask in case of tear gas. For bystanders and others, he pointed out basic situational awareness can help them navigate protests and encampments.

Students aren't the only ones causing the ruckus. The New York City Police Department reported more than half of the 170 people arrested at a City College protest were not students, and 29% of the 112 arrested at Columbia were not either.

Mendoza stressed administrators should do the opposite of what they have been doing.

"School administrators should be meeting with students and should not escalate to this point," Mendoza argued. "These students are unarmed, they are engaged in practicing peaceful non-violent protest, which is a fundamental human right."

He asserted the primary source of violence has been police escalation at encampments. A report from the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project showed a majority of student protests occurring since last October when the war in Gaza began have been peaceful. New York has seen the most pro-Israel and pro-Palestine demonstrations with California running a close second.

South Dakota's June 4 primary will be the first national election here since ballot dropboxes were banned in 2023.

It is one of 12 states to ban using dropboxes to cast votes, although no state election offices using the boxes in 2020 found a connection to voter fraud or stolen ballots, according to an Associated Press survey. The change is more likely to impact rural and tribal voters, who already face barriers to voting.

Sen. Shawn Bordeaux, D-Mission, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said although Native voter turnout for tribal elections is good, turnout for statewide elections is lower. He said dropboxes helped.

"It was something that a lot of people utilized on our reservation communities, where you might have to travel 70 miles to go vote," Bordeaux explained.

A 2022 federal report on Native American voting rights encourages local officials to provide sites for voter registration, polling and mail ballot collection in places convenient for Native voters.

Early voting is still possible with a mail-in absentee ballot. But Bordeaux pointed out it can be complicated on reservations, where most homes do not have street addresses. The state's voter registration form allows applicants to describe or draw a map of where they live, but they cannot use post office box numbers.

"I can't get UPS or the typical person to find my house on a map," Bordeaux noted. "It makes it even more difficult for me to figure out how to get our tribal membership so that they can vote, you know, without the P.O. box number."

Plus, South Dakota does not accept tribal ID cards for voter registration. Bordeaux sponsored a bill to change the rule in the last legislative session, but he said it was pulled from the House floor by a different sponsor who predicted it wouldn't pass. The deadline for voter registration is May 20.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.