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• Post #4502102

  📣 Voters are heading to the polls today in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin, plus special primaries in Alabama and South Carolina. What’s on the menu? Way too much to sum up in one post—learn more in our guide. https://boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ballot/august-2026-elections-guide/#August-11

• Post #4390909

  Kansans rejected a measure to remake their supreme court. Missourians refused to phase out the income tax. Voters chose Senate and governor nominees, and in Washington they narrowed the field for supreme court seats. Catch up with the night's results. https://boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ballot/august-2026-elections-guide/

• Post #4387149

  🔔 Want to read more about tonight's election results? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, where we give updates on the races we're following, and share the local news stories that our team is talking about. https://boltsmag.org/newsletter/

• Post #4384258

  Fueled by local organizing and anger over ICE activity, voters flipped this California city to a liberal majority this spring. An immigrant rights advocate says ICE raids escalated voters' frustrations. "That is fueling people to the polls." https://boltsmag.org/california-immigrant-organizing-and-elections-in-whittier/

• Post #4377671

  Five states are holding their primaries today—Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, and Washington. Our guide walks you through dozens of intriguing elections you should know about. https://boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ballot/august-2026-elections-guide/#August4

• Post #4365549

  In the past two years, the number of traffic stops by Chicago police each month has dropped significantly. But CPD has continued to conduct hundreds of thousands of off-the-books traffic stops, in violation of Illinois law. https://boltsmag.org/chicago-police-traffic-stops-declined-but-unreported-traffic-stops-increased-under-snelling/

• Post #4358954

  In the 1960s, Colorado and several other states eliminated most mental health care beds in its hospitals, shifting toward community-based care. But funding and infrastructure never caught up, and now many people with severe mental illness are held in jail. https://boltsmag.org/boulder-colorado-jail-mental-illness/

• Post #4339639

  Virginians who regained the right to vote on Friday may be able to cast a ballot as soon as Tuesday, when the state will hold its regular primaries, which will decide nominees for congressional offices. https://boltsmag.org/virginia-governor-restores-voting-rights/

• Post #4335118

  After the Civil War, Congress mandated that Southern states could only disenfranchise people over a handful of crimes. But the states quickly ignored those rules and manipulated the criminal legal system to prevent Black people from voting. https://boltsmag.org/readmission-acts-and-felony-disenfranchisement/

• Post #4287647

  The Portland Press Herald reports on the red flag-riddled background of the ICE officer who killed an immigrant in Maine this month: https://www.pressherald.com/2026/07/27/ice-agent-in-biddeford-shooting-had-too-many-red-flags-to-become-local-cop/

• Post #4178338

  To keep up with our coverage of local elections throughout the year, sign up for our weekly newsletter. We share election updates and stories about voting rights and criminal justice, plus behind-the-scenes insights from our team. ⬇️ https://boltsmag.org/newsletter/

• Post #4121442

  Ramulus Mason was sentenced to life in prison without parole for shooting a man named Ricky Wilson in North Carolina in 1995. Years later, the two discovered they were cousins, and Wilson has advocated for Mason’s release. https://boltsmag.org/north-carolina-three-strikes-ramulus-mason/

• Post #4117140

  Traffic stops are among the most dangerous interactions for drivers and police officers, says a professor who served on Chicago’s civilian oversight board. Traffic stops in Chicago have declined, but more than half are going unreported. https://boltsmag.org/chicago-police-traffic-stops-declined-but-unreported-traffic-stops-increased-under-snelling/

• Post #4101160

  The sheriff of San Diego County says she is simply following the law by transferring detained immigrants to ICE custody. But local advocates say California’s sanctuary law is discretionary; it doesn’t force sheriffs to transfer inmates. https://boltsmag.org/violent-ice-surges-san-diego-volunteer-patrols-union-del-barrio-california-sanctuary-policy/

• Post #4098180

  The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the death of a Philadelphia lawyer who spent decades defending the rights of public housing tenants: https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries/george-gould-obituary-community-legal-services-20260717.html

• Post #4096584

  Republican Missouri state Representative Melanie Stinnett championed a state law to roll back felony disenfranchisement after meeting a disenfranchised man while knocking doors on the campaign trail. https://boltsmag.org/gop-run-missouri-becomes-latest-state-to-roll-back-felony-disenfranchisement/

• Post #4091396

  An advocate against solitary confinement says that dialing back reforms on isolation won’t solve violence in California prisons. “We’re not saying that there isn’t a violence problem, we’re just saying that this is not a solution to the violence problem.” https://boltsmag.org/california-dials-back-solitary-reforms/

• Post #4051088

  Newport, Kentucky, is ending its pilot program with Flock and removing the company’s surveillance cameras, LINK nky reports: https://linknky.com/news/2026/07/14/newport-to-remove-flock-cameras-end-pilot-program/

• Post #4041356

  A Missouri state Rep. advocated for a new law restoring voting rights to most people leaving prison. “If we can get people engaged and keep them out of our jails and prisons, then I think we should be doing everything we can,” she said this spring. https://boltsmag.org/gop-run-missouri-becomes-latest-state-to-roll-back-felony-disenfranchisement/

• Post #4022738

  E.M., a woman with schizoaffective disorder, was held in Boulder County Jail for almost two years after experiencing a mental health crisis. “You just can’t take people that are struggling, shove them in a box, and hope they get better,” her mother says. https://boltsmag.org/boulder-colorado-jail-mental-illness/

• Post #4020499

  North Carolina’s election board last week voted to make it easier to throw out a provisional ballot if local officials think a voter is lying about why they don’t have a photo ID. The board’s vote followed party lines, with the GOP in the majority. https://ncnewsline.com/2026/07/16/nc-elections-board-moves-to-make-it-easier-to-toss-voters-ballots/

• Post #4012615

  After the Civil War, white politicians in the South ignored a mandate from Congress to limit felony disenfranchisement. “They directly said they were pursuing white supremacy, and they were using voting rights to do this,” says a political science scholar. https://boltsmag.org/readmission-acts-and-felony-disenfranchisement/

• Post #3924486

  Reconstruction experts and voting rights attorneys are curious to see whether a federal ruling in a Virginia case sparks a renaissance for the mostly forgotten Readmission Acts, passed by Congress between 1868 and 1870. https://boltsmag.org/readmission-acts-and-felony-disenfranchisement/

• Post #3886250

  The LAPD announced on Saturday that it will not renew its contract with Flock Safety, after an audit found that officers had investigated 161 people within a two-month period whose cars Flock cameras had mistakenly flagged as stolen. https://www.404media.co/lapd-regularly-pulled-over-innocent-people-because-license-plate-readers-flagged-their-cars-as-stolen/

• Post #3872193

  “There are so many states that have felony disenfranchisement laws that are out of step with the Readmissions Acts,” says a voting rights advocate. “Once you see it, you’re kind of like, how can this be happening?” https://boltsmag.org/readmission-acts-and-felony-disenfranchisement/

• Post #3868128

  This year, supreme court justices who have upheld restrictions on abortion and reproductive rights are up for retention or reelection in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas. Our guide has more: https://boltsmag.org/your-state-by-state-guide-to-the-2026-supreme-court-elections/

• Post #3847811

  In parallel, Virginia legislators designed criminal laws to target freedmen and turned poverty and unemployment into entryways for criminal cases. Local officials had broad discretion for selective enforcement, disenfranchising Black people at high rates. https://boltsmag.org/readmission-acts-and-felony-disenfranchisement/

• Post #3846512

  A voter initiative to end Idaho’s abortion ban will be on the November ballot, The Idaho Capital Sun reports: https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/07/13/initiative-to-end-idahos-strict-abortion-ban-qualifies-for-novembers-general-election-ballot/

• Post #3789958

  Immigrant organizing has shaken up local politics throughout the country during Trump’s second term. Now, activists in Arizona hope to channel local anger over ICE activity in city elections next week. https://boltsmag.org/arizona-municipal-elections-and-partnerships-with-ice-mesa/

• Post #3766526

  After the Civil War, Congress anticipated white lawmakers in the South would use the criminal legal system to stop Black people from voting, so they readmitted southern states under strict conditions. States have been violating those conditions since. https://boltsmag.org/readmission-acts-and-felony-disenfranchisement/