Elections

Free and fair elections are an essential pillar of democracy around the world. However, the validity of elections are often threatened by the state or individuals introducing barriers to voting, including violence, and political or financial corruption.

The Empire Strikes Back: Trump and His Oligarchs Return to the White House

What if many of the working and middle-class men who voted for Trump were misled into thinking that feminists and racial justice advocates were their antagonists, instead of the denizens of what David Graham referred to in The Atlantic as a new “Gilded Age,” who were seated right behind Trump at his second inaugural?

To use a Star Wars analogy: What if many of the average men who supported Trump fancied themselves members of the Rebel Alliance, but one day came to understand they were actually working for the Empire?

Democrats don’t need to convert the MAGA faithful. I’m convinced that millions of men and young men who voted for Trump have not gone that far down the rabbit hole of hero-worship, conspiracy and delusion. That’s the source of my defiant hope.

‘We’re Still in an Anti-Vax Era’: Dr. Fauci on Battling Anti-Science Sentiment in a Divided America

Before COVID-19, it was rare for an immunologist to become a household name. But in 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci—then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)—quickly became one of the U.S.’ most recognizable symbols of the fight against the pandemic. He was the face of the “Stop the Spread” campaign, urging people to get the vaccine (which some affectionately dubbed the “Fauci ouchie”), and was the subject of a documentary film in 2021.

In Ms.’ first On the Issues podcast episode of 2025, Fauci joined host and Ms. Studios executive producer Michele Goodwin to talk about his time fighting vaccine misinformation, his hopes for the future and how his life changed in the public spotlight during COVID-19, including the toll that the often-troubling attention took on his family.

N.C. Democrats Rally for Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs After Opponent Jefferson Griffin Denies Her Win

Republicans are once again denying election results after a defeat, subverting democracy to try to hold onto power.

This November, abortion-rights voters in North Carolina hoped to reelect Supreme Court justice Allison Riggs. She ran against Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin, who ruled in a case in 2023 that life begins at conception. Griffin and other Republicans are fighting to have more than 60,000 ballots thrown out, hoping that challenging thousands of voter registrations will help him gain the Supreme Court seat.

Close the Gender Giving Gap: Women Need More Charitable Support in Wake of the Election

Despite widespread recognition of gender-based violence, U.S. voters elected a president who a jury held accountable for sexual abuse and who openly disparages women—at once sending a chilling message to survivors and emboldening their abusers. Just days after the election, we heard from a survivor who reported that her boyfriend told her he could do […]

Georgia’s Elections Reveal Regression of Democracy and Gender Equity. The Country’s First Female President Is Fighting Back.

From Latin America to Eastern Europe, election results have signaled the global rise of right-wing authoritarianism and a growing backlash against women’s inclusion in politics. Nowhere is this trend more evident than in Georgia, a small yet strategically significant country bridging Europe and Asia.

On Oct. 27, Georgia held pivotal parliamentary elections that many hoped would realign the nation with its pro-European and democratic aspirations. However, the ruling Georgian Dream party, known for its anti-Western rhetoric and led by an oligarch and the country’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, retained power through disputed elections. This occurred despite over 70 percent of the population supporting EU and NATO integration.

It’s Not the Economy, Stupid

This election is an unfortunate macrocosm of what Black women experience each day across industries: a fundamental lack of trust to lead.

It is long past time for us to face the fact that racism—specifically anti-Blackness—and sexism are at the base of the many other reasons Harris was unable to triumph in this election.

The Public Is Demanding Paid Sick Time. It’s Time for Lawmakers to Pay Attention.

There was a promising development in the 2024 election that should not be overlooked: By large and decisive margins, voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska all voted yes to enacting new paid sick time laws in each state. Now, 3 million more U.S. workers have the legal right to paid sick time and will no longer need to make the impossible choice between sacrificing a paycheck and going to work or sending a child to school sick.

With these ballot wins, 19 states, as well as over a dozen localities, have now embraced paid sick time as a fundamental workplace right—and that is worth celebrating. But access to such a vital protection shouldn’t depend on luck or zip code. Tens of millions of workers are still being left behind. If Congress wants to address widespread concerns about economic hardship and rising costs of living, they can listen to voters and tangibly improve the well-being of working families everywhere by passing the federal Healthy Families Act.

Worn Down, Splintered and Underrepresented: The Fight for Women’s Progress Is Far From Over

Since Election Day, I’ve cycled through a whirlwind of emotions and tried to make sense of it all. In this time of unprecedented division, when hope felt within reach—the chance to elect the first woman president—history took a familiar turn and, once again, did not break that ultimate glass ceiling. 

But history also teaches us that meaningful change is rarely linear. It’s slow, uneven and complicated—especially when women don’t speak with one voice. Progress requires resilience, grit and an unwavering commitment to push through hard times. Taking action is key. And as hard as it can be, the effort is always worth it, even when it’s hard to see.

‘Critical as We Move Forward’: Reproductive Rights and Voter Advocacy Leaders Reckon With 2024 Election

Dr. Lauren Beene was still processing the election outcome when she spoke with Ms. magazine the morning after Donald Trump had been declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election. Dr. Beene, co-founder and Vice President of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, had successfully led the fight a year ago to pass an amendment that enshrined the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. Yet Dr. Beene now worried that under Trump, a national abortion ban may be in the not-so-distant future, and Ohio’s win to protect abortion rights could be in jeopardy.