Dozens of mayors from around the country, including several from Ohio, are calling on the U.S. Senate to protect the right to vote and the integrity of elections.

Joe Begeny, mayor of Reynoldsburg, is among more than one hundred mayors who signed a letter in support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.

He said it is all about ensuring fair representation, noting he has heard from residents who are concerned about policies that could alter election outcomes.

"Your local leaders have more interactions with the public than typically your average senator does," Begeny contended. "This isn't just a Washington inside-the-Beltway conversation about voting rights. This is actually something that affects every community all the way from the largest of the large cities to the smallest of the small."

The two bills would create standards for voting access in federal elections, including mandating early voting, creating an Election Day holiday, and setting uniform vote-counting rules. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio and other opponents argued the measures are an attempt to federalize elections, but supporters including Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, countered they are needed to counteract restrictive voting laws passed in more than a dozen states.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden gave an impassioned speech about the need for election reform, and supported calls by Democrats to change the filibuster in order to make it happen. Instead of getting caught up in the politics of chamber rules, Begeny believes senators should allow the bills to go to the floor where they can be debated on their merits.

"If senators do feel that this is an overburden on federal authority, then let them say so on the record and make their vote clear about where they stand on people's abilities to vote in the states that they represent," Begeny urged.

Frank LaRose, Ohio Secretary of State, is a vocal opponent of the measures, and has said election security should be left to the states. But Begeny noted not all states offer the same opportunities to vote, which he contends is especially problematic in federal elections.

"There's always questions, especially with the most recent election, about the viability, the legality or the correct results that were posted in there," Begeny outlined. "I think having a similar set of rules for all states to follow is a good direction to go."

The mayors of Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Elyria, Lorain, Toledo and Youngstown also signed a letter sent to the Senate majority and minority leaders in support of voting-rights reform.

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

Examples of proposed policies and candidates tied to false claims of election fraud have spread to Minnesota, and a new national report found the movement is not slowing down ahead of this fall's vote.

A trio of voter-rights groups issued findings into how state legislatures are trying to subvert elections, including more leeway to reject results, requiring partisan or outside audits, and shifting power away from election administrators. Some ideas have been floated by Minnesota Republicans but are not likely to pass under the current balance of power.

Rachel Homer, counsel for the nonprofit group Protect Democracy, said simply proposing them poses a threat.

"This is about everyone in support of democracy," Homer asserted. "Both political parties really need to be standing against this movement toward autocracy."

Despite calls for unity, Republicans are seeing more candidates for statewide offices who either perpetuate the stolen-election narrative, or suggest current laws need restrictions they said would tighten election security.

The Minnesota GOP recently endorsed such a candidate running for Secretary of State, the office overseeing elections. The report said 175 such laws were introduced in the U.S. this year.

Homer argued false election-fraud claims, taking shape following Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential vote, have ballooned to a five-alarm fire. She noted even if most bills do not pass, voters are still being exposed to theories soundly rejected by the courts.

"These bills are being proposed by a lot of legislators across a lot of states," Homer observed. "They clearly think there's an audience for it. "

The groups behind the report emphasized it is important to remember most administrators, staffs and volunteers are committed to free and fair elections.

Sylvia Albert, national voting and elections director for Common Cause, said outside the findings, potentially having some candidates espousing such views take office is concerning. If election results were to be rejected without a valid reason, she said it might be harder to seek recourse.

"So, there definitely is an ability to challenge in court, [but] the courts are leaning more and more toward stepping away and letting the political process run itself," Albert stressed. "What that does, is not protect the people who don't have power, which are normal Americans."

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

The pandemic appears to have increased the level of violence in U.S. cities, and a new study found local officials and mayors, especially those of color, face the brunt of it.

Heidi Gerbracht, co-founder of the Women Mayors Network and founder of Equity Agenda, said death threats, vandalized homes and outrage at public meetings have all been reported by local government officials.

"They're having to change their lives to continue serving because of these threats," Gerbracht pointed out. "There is absolutely concern about escalation. There's concern about their physical safety and their family's physical safety."

Gerbracht noted the increasing violence, as documented in research by Oklahoma State University, requires a response from local governments, which may include protective services from local police departments. Online safety and physical training for mayors is being offered this month by the Mayors Innovation Project.

In interviews with more than 3,000 mayors last fall, 70% said they knew someone who chose not to run for office because of the hostile nature of the work.

Rebekah Herrick, professor of social sciences and humanities at Oklahoma State University, who cowrote the report, said social media is driving the increased violence.

"94.5% of mayors reported what we call psychological violence," Herrick reported. "Things like social-media attacks, verbal attacks at a public meeting; 24.2% reported receiving at least one threat."

Gerbracht added the exposure of an elected leader's personal information also is becoming more common, a level of harassment causing local leaders to decide against seeking public office.

"We just have this expectation as the public that this isn't a problem for local elected officials," Gerbracht emphasized. "There is a real need for people to understand that this is not just politics. This is not just what you should expect to get into public service."

Good-government groups are criticizing the Supreme Court's decision Monday eliminating rules on how much a candidate can spend to pay back loans he or she made to the campaign.

The justices sided with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who sued over rules, which said a candidate can only raise $250,000 after an election to pay back a personal loan.

Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs for Common Cause, said this means big donors can funnel huge amounts of cash directly to newly elected officials.

"This decision is yet another example of the Supreme Court allowing more big money in politics and further opening the door to corruption and big moneyed interests calling the shots," Scherb contended.

The decision undermines part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

In the supporting brief, Chief Justice John Roberts said the rule placed too great a burden on core political speech. In a dissent, Justice Elena Kagan argued the decision, quote, "greenlights all the sordid bargains Congress thought it right to stop ... and can only bring this country's political system into further disrepute."

Scherb emphasized he hopes it will drum up more support for the DISCLOSE Act, which would require campaigns and groups spending money to influence politics to report more about their funding, but he is not optimistic.

"We're not holding our breaths that 10 Senate Republicans would vote for something like this," Scherb acknowledged. "But if more big money is going to be spent in politics, it absolutely has to be disclosed. The public deserves to see who's trying to influence their voices and their votes."

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