Los trabajadores electorales estarán presentes en todo Idaho el próximo mes, ayudando con las elecciones primarias del estado. Desempeñarán un papel integral para garantizar que los votos de las personas se emitan y cuenten. El secretario del condado de Ada, Phil McGrane, dice que se necesitan entre 800 y 1300 trabajadores electorales, dependiendo del tamaño de la elección.

"Son las personas en el terreno, miembros de nuestra comunidad, que dan un paso adelante para hacer un servicio público, para permitir que todos en la comunidad puedan votar. Realmente resultan ser la columna vertebral de nuestro sistema electoral", expresó McGrane.

La primaria de Idaho es el 17 de mayo. Para votar en las primarias republicanas, los votantes deben elegir estar afiliados al partido. La fecha límite para preinscribirse para votar es el viernes a la medianoche. Los habitantes de Idaho también pueden registrarse el día de las elecciones en su lugar de votación, proporcionando una identificación con fotografía y una prueba de domicilio.

McGrane dice que uno de los mayores desafíos de este año es navegar los cambios de la redistribución de distritos. Él dice que cada votante registrado en el condado de Ada recibirá una postal con su información actualizada, incluido su nuevo distrito y lugar de votación. McGrane señala que ahora se necesitan más trabajadores electorales en el área de Boise.

"Agregamos más de 40 nuevas zonas a nivel local, debido a todo el crecimiento que estamos experimentando aquí en Boise. Y entonces, eso nos ha requerido encontrar muchas más personas, comentó el secretario del condado de Ada. Por lo general, tenemos un mínimo de cuatro personas en un lugar de votación en una elección pequeña y, por supuesto, aumenta en una elección más grande."

En algunas partes del país durante las elecciones de 2020, los trabajadores electorales fueron hostigados. McGrane dice que eso no sucedió en Idaho. Pero señala que los funcionarios electorales están agradecidos con los trabajadores electorales por muchas razones, incluido tomarse un tiempo de sus ocupadas vidas para este trabajo.

"Encontrar a alguien que pueda servir todo el día (generalmente desde las 7 a. m., justo antes de que abran las urnas, hasta después de las 8 p. m. cuando cierran las urnas), es un gran pedido para los miembros de la comunidad, pasar todo el día en uno de los lugares de votación. Pero es crucial para lo que hacemos", añadió también el entrevistado.

McGrane dice que el condado de Ada todavía está buscando más trabajadores electorales y pueden presentar su solicitud en el sitio web de elecciones del condado de Ada.

Apoyo para este informe fue proporcionado por la Carnegie Corporation de Nueva York.


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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.

Alabama has long been at the forefront of voting rights issues in the United States and despite some progress, advocates said residents continue to face barriers at the ballot box.

In a recent discussion held in Montgomery, the Center for American Progress brought together voting rights experts to shed light on the ongoing struggle against voter suppression in the state.

Kathy Jones, president of the League of Women Voters-Alabama, was on the panel and highlighted ongoing efforts hindering equitable access.

"Just this past year, we've had Wes Allen, and his office has eliminated the phone app for voter registration and being able to check your polling places," Jones pointed out. "Which is a real hardship for people who rely on their phones to be able to do the business that they need to do if they need to register to vote."

The latest way Jones noted ballot access is being blocked is the recent passage of a law criminalizing assistance with absentee ballot applications. Supporters said they believe the measure will prevent ballot harvesting.

She added other ways of restricting access to the ballot box include regulating early voting, voting by mail, voter registration and voter-list maintenance. Other laws bar thousands of persons who have served felony convictions from regaining the right to vote.

JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said in response to the challenges, federal laws being proposed would bolster voting rights across the country. One of them is the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

"The John Lewis Voting Rights Act would essentially allow us a level of equitability across the board from, as well as the Freedom to Vote Act, making voting a holiday, ensuring early voting," Bosby Gilchrist emphasized. "Alabama is one of three states without early voting, including Mississippi and New Hampshire."

The Freedom to Vote Act would help expand voter registration, limit removing voter from voter rolls and even outlines criteria to prevent gerrymandering. Advocates also see engaging young voters and increasing overall voter turnout as ways to combat measures hindering access.

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

Pennsylvania is among the states where massive protests and tent encampments opposing the war in Gaza are growing.

Elez Beresin-Scher, a sociology student at Bryn Mawr College, is at the Free Gaza encampment on campus. She explained there are about 44 tents full of students who have been sleeping there since Saturday night.

She spoke to Sonali Kolhatkar on the TV and radio show Yes! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali.

"We are here because our college has $5 million of its endowment invested in Israeli technology," Beresin-Scher pointed out. "We know that this money is complicit in the genocide of Palestinians; over 30,000 Palestinians have been murdered by the State of Israel."

Beresin-Scher added they are calling on the college and the university president's office to divest Israeli holdings and endorse a cease-fire resolution passed by 89% of the student body about a month ago. She added they will be at the encampment indefinitely until their two demands are met.

Pro-Israel groups argued the war is justified given the massacre perpetrated by Hamas, which kicked off the most recent violence. Beresin-Scher noted they are taking a significant risk but they believe genocide is occurring in Palestine and they want to see it end.

"We're recognizing that Palestinian students have been murdered, or are not able to continue their education because every university in Gaza has been bombed, has been destroyed," Beresin-Scher emphasized. "That's the perspective that we're coming from."

Beresin-Scher has been a member of Jewish Voice for Peace since her freshman year, and said it is upsetting to hear the encampments are being portrayed as anti-Semitic. She noted it is something she has never encountered as someone who has organized with Students for Justice in Palestine.

This story was produced based on original reporting by Sonali Kolhatkar for Yes! Media.