New Hampshire political candidates and voters must now contend with the state's last-minute approval of a new congressional-district map.

On Tuesday, the New Hampshire Supreme Court unanimously approved a new map just one day before candidates began filing to run for office in the fall election.

Olivia Zink, executive director of New Hampshire-based Open Democracy, a nonpartisan and nonprofit civic organization, said the timing of the new map was far from ideal.

"The filing period opens the first Wednesday in June and goes for 10 days, which is a state law," Zink explained. "The maps were drawn with less than 24 hours before the filing period opened for congressional races. We were the last state in the country to finalize a map."

Court intervention to create a final congressional map was a last resort, after the governor vetoed two Republican-approved maps last week.

Zink noted only a handful of cities changed in Tuesday's state Supreme Court decision, moving them from the First to the Second District.

"The court drew a 'least-changed' map," Zink pointed out. "They changed five towns in kind-of northern New Hampshire: Albany, Jackson, Sandwich, Campton and New Hampton."

With the unique way New Hampshire's newest congressional map became law, Zink noted current congressional districts may not last into the future.

"Because this map was drawn by the court, the legislature can introduce a new map next year," Zink stressed. "We will stay vigilant to make sure that process is fair and transparent."

While Zink wishes the timing had been better, she believes the new map is "competitive," compared to earlier, more partisan proposals.

An Arizona election official shared his concerns at a recent national conference about threats to safe and fair elections.

Multiple experts at the University of California-Los Angeles School of Law event said they are worried about democracy as the next presidential election approaches. The conference topic was, "Can American Democracy Survive the 2024 Elections?"

Stephen Richer, county recorder for Maricopa County, a Republican who took office after the 2020 election, said he fears election denialism has become integral to the Arizona GOP, and the state has become "the global hot spot" for conspiracy theories.

Richer argued it has created what he calls an "incentive structure" for politicians to simply go along with.

"I am deeply, deeply pessimistic, because this is a necessary ingredient for winning a Republican primary in the state of Arizona is to say that the 2020 election, and now the 2022 election, were 'stolen' in order to win a Republican primary," Richer explained.

Richer shared some voicemail messages with the crowd, in which election deniers threaten him and his office for alleging election tampering.

Richer pointed out it is not helpful when election administrators have to deal with what he calls "a group of partisan warriors," with no election expertise, peddling false claims. But he noted one positive aspect to come from the election denialist movement is the general public has become more informed about the postelection procedures in Arizona, meant to verify election integrity.

"People became more aware of the postelection audits that are in fact done, because Arizona has long done postelection audits," Richer emphasized.

Speakers at the conference agreed misinformation is one of the root causes of the problems the nation is facing. They also called on the federal government to invest in, and enact more, legal and administrative protections for election workers.


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Voting rights advocates in Massachusetts are applauding Governor Maura Healey's budgetary backing of new policies stemming from last year's passage of the VOTES Act. The law expands early voting options and allows all voters to cast their ballot by mail for any reason, but some municipalities are struggling to handle the expansion of mail-in voting for local springtime elections, citing a lack of personnel.

Common Cause of Massachusetts Executive Director Geoff Foster said timing of the governor's funding could not be better.

"Lack of resources or staff hopefully shouldn't be the reason why municipalities are opting out of what's a really valuable expansion to our voting laws," he said.

Healy has dedicated $5 million for grants to cities and towns to more easily manage ballot requests. 37% of Massachusetts voters cast their ballots by mail in last year's midterm elections.

Registered voters will now receive a letter in the mail each year offering the chance to opt in to mail-in voting, which can also be done online. Foster said the policy aims to improve turnout among those who may struggle with child care, work multiple jobs or those with physical challenges.

"To be able to bring democracy literally home to your kitchen table potentially to fill out a mail ballot at home at a time that that works for you, I mean that's just a win all around for our democracy," Foster said.

There is still work to be done, Foster said. The VOTES Act changed the cut-off date for voter registration from twenty days prior to an election to ten days, but voting advocates say they will continue to push for same-day voter registration. With some 150 bills meant to restrict voter access already introduced nationwide this year, voting advocates say Massachusetts is on the right track.


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Texas' GOP-dominated legislature is considering bills to flip the script on powers traditionally afforded home-rule cities, instead forcing them to abide by state regulations. Two bills have been introduced this session to curb local laws governing safety, the environment and discrimination.

Rick Levy, president of the AFL-CIO Texas branch, said the proposed legislation is extremely far-reaching, and would force the hand of cities across the state.

"Under the current system, home-rule cities have the ability to do anything they're not prohibited from doing. This would make them basically seek permission from the state to do anything," he said.

The Republican bill sponsors say regulatory powers should be returned to the state so small businesses can operate under consistent regulations. Unions represented by the AFL-CIO and other labor groups say the proposals could undo hard-fought measures to protect workers.

As written, Levy said the bills also would affect non-discrimination ordinances - including those that cover gay, lesbian and trans people.

"To the extent that those differ at all from state law, or federal law, in terms of the clarity of their protections for lesbian and gay folks or anything that goes beyond that would be immediately pre-empted - so it's a pretty draconian effort," he said.

After Alaska, Texas is the second largest state geographically and Levy said he has always been impressed that lawmakers come together to represent such diverse interests. He does not believe they should dictate what elected officials in various cities are allowed to do.

"And just to kind of impose the will of a very small sector of the population on every community in the state - in their zeal to crush any kind of dissent or any kind of diversity they're really stepping on what it means to be Texan," he said.

The proposed legislation comes after Austin, known for its progressive policies, lost the ability to enforce a ban on plastic bags after it was challenged and the Texas Supreme Court ruled it violated state law.