Taniel

@taniel.bsky.social

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Daniel Nichanian. Editor in chief of @boltsmag.org (follow us!). Elections, (local) politics, voting rights, criminal justice, and drag race.

"Would Utah swap voters’ private data for federal disaster aid? Here’s what Lt. Gov. Henderson says."
"Bolts’ review of legal archives only found one other lawsuit—in Arkansas, half a century ago—that argued that a state can’t disenfranchise people for anything but “common-law felonies.” The Arkansas Supreme Court tossed that suit in 1976 on the grounds that the state’s Readmission Act was unconstitutional; the court said Arkansas’ secession in 1861 wasn’t legal in the first place, so the state can’t have been readmitted."
"As the midterms draw closer, President Trump and his allies on the right have increased their attacks on mail voting while continuing to falsely claim that it is rife with fraud. Voting advocates are now warning about disruptive new policies announced by the U.S. Postal Service and the Trump administration, including changes to how mail is postmarked, and an executive order this spring attempting to give the USPS sweeping new authority over who can even vote by mail. That executive order has been blocked, for now. Mail voting has also become a major battleground in states, as a barrage of GOP laws restricts access to mail ballots and drop boxes, and bans voters from receiving assistance. But in late June, mail voting got a surprise reprieve when the Supreme Court upheld grace periods that allow election officials to count ballots that were postmarked by Election Day but arrive later. Conservatives have seized on the time it takes some states to count all ballots to amplify baseless allegations of fraud, most recently in the California primaries. We suspect this has left you with a lot of questions—including about what it means for your own access to mail voting. "
"Mr. Raffensperger later said that Mr. Graham had suggested rejecting all mail-in votes from counties with high rates of questionable signatures. Mr. Graham, who at the time was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said that he was acting in his official capacity as a senator."
"Burned by a series of statewide losses after they nominated far-right figures, some of the Arizona GOP’s establishment hoped to nominate Karrin Taylor Robson for governor this year; they got Trump to endorse her, a move that seemed to seal the deal. But Trump blew up their plans two months later by also endorsing U.S. Representative Andy Biggs, former leader of the federal Freedom Caucus. Taylor Robson ended up dropping out, making Biggs the clear favorite. Still, Biggs must face David Schweikert, a fellow House member who was reprimanded by the House in 2020 for major ethics violations tied to his campaign fundraising. The primary winner will face Democratic incumbent Katie Hobbs in the fall."
"The initial headhunters, Dan Moraff and Leanne Fan, and then a third out-of-state operative they called up to Maine — Morris Katz — told Mr. Platner he was “the one,” a “hero of the movement,” “a historical figure” who could be “leading a revolution,” according to half a dozen people with knowledge of their conversations."
"The water system that provides for the entire Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota has been contaminated with dangerous levels of manganese that have made the water undrinkable since May. For Lonna Jackson-Street, chair of the Spirit Lake Tribal Council, which is now scrambling to provide bottled water to residents and install a filtration system, the crisis underscores the need for Native voices in government. The federal government fails to properly maintain infrastructure it’s supposed to be managing, and state leaders don’t dedicate enough resources to reservations they see as outside their jurisdiction. “Native representation is so important,” she said, “because they understand the gaps in these services and how they are administered to our tribal nations.” A member of Spirit Lake Nation was elected to North Dakota’s legislature for the first time last fall thanks to a redistricting lawsuit filed by Jackson-Street’s tribe, alongside the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. The suit claimed that the districts drawn by North Dakota in 2021 violated the Voting Rights Act, and the tribes’ initial success in court triggered a new map and increased representation in 2024."
A table that shows that "no recent initiative would have passed under the proposal" by showing how much each got in the 7th district.
“On nous dit dans l’oreillette que Donald Trump souhaite lancer un recours auprès de Gianni Infantino en accusant la sélection belge d’avoir joué au football ce mardi.”
Melat Kiros 53%, Diana DeGette 39.9%, with > 95% reporting
Like other Arkansans who talked to Bolts for this article, Miller focused her criticism on the proposed requirement that petitioners read a proposal in its entirety or have it read to them by the canvasser. Under current law, canvassers already show prospective signers the text of the measure. Requiring a full reading would balloon the interaction time since measures tend to be very lengthy and full of legalese. In testing the rule, it took this reporter nearly four minutes to silently read last year’s marijuana initiative; it took nearly six minutes to read it outloud. “It’s quite ridiculous, I cannot even logistically imagine doing it,” said Miller. “It’s already so difficult to collect signatures. When you’re out there in the heat, in the cold, you’re talking to people—it’s all you can do to be able to get a few moments of their time to explain the measure.” “We are to require folks to stand outside for ten minutes to read a ballot title? We don’t even have these requirements to sign a candidate’s petition,” she said.
"It’s a sweltering 105 degrees on a Sunday afternoon in June when Jillian Ryan sets out to tell voters in east Mesa that their city has a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow local police officers to be a cog in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts. "
"The Constitution Is On Life Support Four sitting justices are prepared to stuff the Fourteenth Amendment’s promises in the garbage because Mister Trump demands it."
Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights— to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to “every free-born person in this land.” Cong. Globe, 39th Cong., 1st Sess., at 600 (Sen. Trumbull). We keep that promise today.
Over the years, successive legal teams for Duncan turned up significant exonerating evidence, some of which the prosecution never turned over to his original trial lawyers. Perhaps most damning was the mid-2000s discovery of a shocking videotape that depicted Dr. West pressing a mold of Duncan’s teeth into Haley’s body, appearing to create the bite marks the dentist claimed were already there—evidence that the jury in Duncan’s trial never saw. Despite these discoveries, broader advancements in forensic scientific understanding, and revelations about the extent of Hayne and West’s misconduct, Duncan remained on death row.
"Bolts reported last year that Erie County Sheriff John Garcia, a Republican, was running unopposed despite assisting ICE and overseeing a crisis of jail deaths. At the time, the chair of county Democrats, Jeremy Zellner, told local media Garcia was “very successful.” Since then Zellner was elected to the state Senate in a special election. He has received a sizable donation from Garcia, BTPM reports, as he faces Jon Rivera, a local politician endorsed by the Working Families Party, in this June primary."
"Evette criticized what she described as the silencing of conservative voices on college campuses and raised concerns about political indoctrination in higher education. “For far too long, conservative voices have been silenced at our college campuses and our schools, that can’t continue. As a mom that has three children, one in college, currently, the indoctrination that happens on our college campuses is terrible,” Evette said. Wilson sharply disagreed, saying a governor must rise above political disputes with students and warning against retaliating by cutting university funding."
"Bolts reported last year that Erie County Sheriff John Garcia, a Republican, was running unopposed despite assisting ICE and overseeing a crisis of jail deaths. At the time, the chair of county Democrats, Jeremy Zellner, told local media Garcia was “very successful.” Now, Zellner is running for an open seat in the state Senate, and he has received a sizable donation from Garcia, BTPM reports. He faces David Rivera, a local politician, in this June primary."
"Prolonged detentions soar nationwide: The number of people in ICE detention for more than a year grew five-fold from March 2024 to March 2026. The proportion of people who've been detained over a year has also grown, from 1% to over 3% of detainees."
"State Senator Jessica Ramos was actually allied to New York progressives until she endorsed Andrew Cuomo over Zohran Mamdani last summer. Now her former allies, including U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Working Families Party, are backing a primary challenge from Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas."
If a defendant may prospectively waive the right to appeal his sentence, too, one might wonder what’s to stop prosecutors from pushing their luck further yet. Might we eventually face plea agreements that include prospective waivers of the defendant’s right to complain about future unreasonable searches and seizures of his home? See L. Gill, Virginia Governor Vetoes a Ban on Plea Deals that Waive People’s Constitutional Rights, Bolts (Apr. 14, 2026), https://perma.cc/3FL2-LBNB.
"Would you like to speak with a team member? Yes Would you like to speak with a team member for further assistance?"
"Both candidates lean to the right. But Rod Vilhauer has echoed baseless rhetoric by other Texas archconservatives this year about efforts to install Shariah Law in the state; he has also compared immigrants to “rats.” A local pastor who supports Vilhauer has called the race a “spiritual battle for the soul of the city” because, he claims, Muslims are looking to gain power locally “by the ballot and eventually by the sword.” Vilhauer’s opponent, Mark Hill, has pushed back against Vilhauer’s statements, saying they will keep people from feeling welcome and moving to the city."
"A number of states have adopted constitutional amendments that specify criteria that new maps must meet, but Yeargain cautions that it’s then up to judges to actually apply them, telling Bolts, “These rules ultimately hold whatever power the court enforcing them thinks they ought to have.""
Fujimori leads 50.002% to Sanchez's 49.998%.
"Are there any groups doing a good job to fight back? —@bichonsnuggles on X If you feel a bit overwhelmed at the growing networks of self-surveillance, there are national civil rights groups, local civil liberties groups, and truth-tellers like journalists who are exposing the problems with growing surveillance powers. I don’t presume to speak for these groups but check out their websites and work. Self-surveillance is a democratic problem and requires a democratic solution. A non-exclusive, but still overly long, list of groups doing interesting work on these issues include Electronic Frontier Foundation, the NACDL Fourth Amendment Center, Algorithmic Justice League, DeFlock, the Policing Project at NYU Law, the Brennan Center for Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Mijente, Center for Democracy and Technology, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Just Futures Law, and MediaJustice. Many local organizations are also focusing on it, such as Secure Justice in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lucy Parsons Lab in Chicago, Our Data Bodies in Michigan, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition in Los Angeles, and Surveillance Technology Oversight Project in New York. And finally, don’t forget that journalists are covering these issues at publications like 404 Media, Wired, Arstechnina, The Marshall Project—and Bolts."
"But to make sure we’re on the right track, we want to hear from you. Our new reader survey gives you an opportunity to share your thoughts about our journalism. Your feedback will ensure that our reporting meets your needs, and that we’re fulfilling our mission of keeping our readers informed. Take the survey Is there a Bolts story that has stuck with you? Are there topics we could be covering more? Is there a social media platform you’d love to see us on? This is your chance to let us know. Your answers to our survey will give us a stronger sense of who our readers are, and how we can continue to grow our audience. They’ll also help shape our plans for future reporting and ensure that our journalism better suits your interests and needs. "
"I have found it helpful to read reporting from the local level to get a clearer sense of what this all means in practice, how this all affects the lives of people on the ground in immediate and concrete ways. Late last year, Bolts magazine, which consistently provides excellent independent journalism, had a great story on Fayette County in rural Tennessee, which is about one quarter Black, according to the 2020 census. In December 2023, the county mayor and the 19 members of the all-white county board of"
"On the list of bullet points Fearer splashed on a big screen behind him was the name of Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, a tough-talking cop who first won in 2016 with an overwhelming 81 percent of the vote but only narrowly prevailed when he went up for re-election in 2020. To Fearer, that slide is enough to suggest fraud. “There was no glaring issue with the job that he (Waybourn) had done that we could perceive, yet in 2020 the margin was only 5 percent,” Fearer said. That remark would shock Waybourn’s local critics, who have organized against the scandal-plagued sheriff and his policies for years. They have protested the dehumanizing and dangerous conditions that pervade inside the jail he oversees, which has seen a spike in deaths since he took office. " https://boltsmag.org/north-texas-police-high-turnout-and-close-races/
"And he’s not alone. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told reporters the “efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream it’s impossible to prove. But I think everybody knows instinctively that something is wrong here.” Yes, the alleged voter fraud claimed by Trump and his allies is always the perfect crime: happening on a massive scale yet impossible to detect. It’s quite convenient to have a theory that is completely unfalsifiable."