Voting rights

The state's highest court is considering the constitutionality of a law that prohibits impersonating an election official.

Voting rights advocates are hoping a federal judge in San Antonio will strike down more than 30 provisions of Senate Bill 1, which the Texas Legislature passed in 2021.

The high court left intact a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act in a case many feared would go the other way. The decision’s importance in ongoing litigation over Texas’ political maps will largely be felt in what didn’t happen.

The court said Alabama’s maps denied Black voters the ability to select candidates of their choice, as specified in a section of the Voting Rights Act.

Kansas Republicans are considering the removal of a three-day grace period for returning ballots by mail and creating runoff elections for statewide races. Democrats and voter turnout advocates say they are voter suppression efforts.

A Kansas law passed in 2021 made it illegal for one person to deliver more than 10 advance voting ballots on behalf of other voters, and puts additional restrictions on handling and verifying advanced ballots.

As Texas defends against accusations that its new political maps are discriminatory, it’s laying the groundwork to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out longstanding Voting Rights Act protections.

Martin Luther King Jr. spent years before his assassination working to expand access to the ballot box. Today, advocates and lawmakers say they are fighting many of the same fights.

Independent voting rights advocates will likely try to spread the word.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is urging the Senate to approve voting rights legislation to override new restrictions imposed by Texas and other Republican-led states.