The Justice Department is investigating after the Yuba County Elections Office north of Sacramento received an envelope with white powder testing positive for fentanyl. Pro-democracy groups are calling out the latest attack on our election system and looking for ways to defuse the situation. Jonathan Mehta Stein, executive director of California Common Cause, said while no one was hurt, the attempt to poison or kill an election worker is despicable. .
Lawmakers in Massachusetts are considering a resolution to convene a Convention of States, a process voting rights groups said could put civil liberties at risk. Congress is required to hold a convention under Article V of the Constitution if two-thirds of state legislatures call for one. Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, said there are no rules in the Constitution for how to govern a convention and no guarantee, even the First Amendment, would be safe. .
Starting today, Minnesotans can take advantage of early voting ahead of the March 5 presidential primary and a growing number of rural residents will cast their ballots by mail after their communities endorsed the option full-time. In 1987, Minnesota adopted a law which allows cities with fewer than 400 registered voters or non-metro townships of all sizes to make voting by mail their only option if they approve a resolution. Steve Simon, Secretary of State, said the idea is to take pressure off local administrators who simply don t have the resources to maintain polling sites. .
Ohioans may have the chance to add a new Voters Bill of Rights to the state Constitution to support ballot access. Voting rights advocates said they want better controls on the state s purging of voter registration rolls. They also want early voting days restored, and protections enshrined in the Constitution, rather than only in law. .