Dennis Linthicum and nine other Republican state senators staged a prolonged walkout during Oregon's 2023 legislative session, protesting bills on abortion, gun rights, and transgender health care.

Now he's running to be the state's top elections official:boltsmag.org/oregon-secreta…

Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota are up next on the primary calendar.

Here’s your Bolts guide to the elections taking place on June 4, from coast to coast. boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-b…

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Oklahoma’s incarcerated survivors of domestic abuse have been on an emotional rollercoaster: after a bill giving them a shot at freedom passed the legislature almost unanimously, it was unexpectedly vetoed by the governor. A month on, it finally became law.boltsmag.org/oklahoma-survi…

In stark contrast to his GOP opponent, Oregon secretary of state candidate Tobias Read has promised to protect the state’s pioneering mail-in voting system, which has boosted voter turnout. boltsmag.org/oregon-secreta…

In Tuesday's primaries, New Mexico progressives are challenging a series of incumbent Democrats who killed a bill mandating paid medical and family leave earlier this year.

We're tracking these races and more in our cheat sheet: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-b…

Proving maps are gerrymandered is impossible without precinct-level election data.

Yet to the dismay of voting rights lawyers, there is no centralized database maintaining this data for the country’s 180,000 precincts, & many states don’t share it either.boltsmag.org/election-data-…

Dennis Linthicum spread unfounded claims about the 2020 election and sued to force Oregonians to vote in person. He’ll face Democrat Tobias Read in November to be secretary of state. boltsmag.org/oregon-secreta…

NEW: Bolts is watching dozens of races across five states, as scandals rock statewide contests and ideological factions in each party fight for more control in their legislatures.

Taniel takes you through them in our June 4 cheat sheet: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-b…

In Illinois, Cook County plans to replace the nation’s largest juvenile jail with smaller, community-based facilities, Injustice Watch reports: injusticewatch.org/juvenile-court…

Incarcerated survivors of domestic violence and their advocates have spent the past 2 years organizing for sentencing reform in Oklahoma.

Governor Kevin Stitt's veto initially denied them a chance at freedom, but a new version of their bill has became law:boltsmag.org/oklahoma-survi…

Luis Gonzlez is thankful that a pretrial support program in Illinois helped find safe housing for him and his kids after he was arrested.

'If I didn't have these resources… I would've probably still been in jail,” he told Bolts. boltsmag.org/illinois-pretr…

Oregon has been a pioneer in mail voting, sending all voters a ballot by mail since the 1990s. The Republican nominee to lead the state’s elections official wants to dismantle it. boltsmag.org/oregon-secreta…

A new study found that cuts to Medicaid hurt public safety.

“We need to look beyond just the individual, and more at society, when we’re considering the benefits of providing these social programs,” one of the study's authors told Bolts. boltsmag.org/medicaid-cover…

The odds of being released on parole in Virginia have gone from slim to nearly impossible in recent years under new GOP leadership: In March, the parole board approved just 2 out of 117 cases. boltsmag.org/virginia-parol…

If you have a story pitch that would fit Bolts, we would love to hear from you!

Our guide lays out the sort of topics and stories we're interested in, and how to get in touch: boltsmag.org/pitch-us/

Phil Keisling, former Oregon secretary of state who championed universal mail voting in the 1990s, says Republicans were largely on board at the time—more so than Democrats. That dynamic has changed a great deal. boltsmag.org/oregon-secreta…

The 2030 redistricting cycle is years away, but Minnesota has already passed a law that ends prison gerrymandering for that count.

“This gives time for our secretary of state office and for our counties to get ready,” one state representative told Bolts. boltsmag.org/minnesota-ends…

The Oklahoma Survivors' Act, which allows reduced sentences for victims of domestic violence if they can prove it was a substantial contributing factor to their crime, has become law after overcoming an initial veto by the governor. boltsmag.org/oklahoma-survi…

Milwaukee election staff have concerns about their readiness for this year’s elections after a recent shakeup in the office, Votebeat reports: votebeat.org/wisconsin/2024…