Voting Rights

Independence Day, Ranked-Choice Wins and Jacinda Ardern: This Week in Women’s Representation

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, sports and entertainment, judicial offices and the private sector—with a little gardening mixed in! 

This week:
—This Friday marks the 249th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The journey for women’s equal representation remains unfinished.
—Zohran Mamdani looks poised to join 36-year-old Boston mayor Michelle Wu as part of a new generation of leadership in the U.S. Northeast. It’s time for more aging men like Cuomo to step aside and let more women step up. And if New York City is any indication, the voters may take matters into their own hands.
—St. Paul in 2023 elected an all-women city council in its ranked-choice voting elections. There’s now a vacant seat, and three women are among the four candidates running in an Aug. 12 special election.
—Jacinda Ardern’s new book, A Different Kind of Power, highlights the shifting dynamics of power, how women are redefining what leadership can be, and the impact of fairer election systems for creating openings for new voices like her own.

… and more!

I Asked Top Election Experts About 2024 Tampering Claims. Here’s What They Said.

In recent weeks, a wave of rumors has surfaced online suggesting the 2024 election may have been “stolen” or, more specifically, tampered with due to faulty machines. While many of these claims remain vague or speculative, some are beginning to gain traction across social media platforms and alternative news sites. 

In the interest of democracy, transparency and election security, I reached out to a group of leading experts—many of whom work at the intersection of voting rights, cybersecurity and public trust—to share two examples of the kinds of articles I’ve seen on this topic, and ask for their take.

What follows are responses from some of the country’s most experienced voices on election integrity. Their insights are a valuable reminder that while election systems are not perfect, there is currently no credible evidence supporting claims of widespread vote manipulation in 2024. Instead, these experts highlight what’s real, what’s theoretical and where our attention should actually be focused as we work to protect democracy.

As Reproductive Rights Collapse, Funders Are Disappearing. Why?

Grassroots organizations are on the frontlines of defending human rights at this moment. Yet, it’s alarming that major funders are leaving the field right when groups working to defend bodily autonomy and democracy need them most. 

In the 2024 presidential election, we saw the consequences of what happens when donors abandon grassroots organizations—where a billion dollars were raised for the Harris campaign at the expense of movement organizations in key battleground states. In a presidential election lost to low voter turnout, the decision to underfund grassroots groups—those best equipped to knock on doors and mobilize voters—proved dangerously short-sighted.

(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund.)

‘You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take’: On Sustaining Social Change From the Bottom Up

Mainstream media, conservatives and politicians want people to believe that the poor will always be with us. But it’s a lie.

In You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take: Lessons from the Movement to End Poverty, Presbyterian minister and long-time anti-poverty organizer Liz Theoharis and writer-organizer Noam Sandweiss-Back deconstruct this fallacy and present dozens of examples of organizing by poor people to win affordable housing, accessible healthcare, high-quality public education, a living wage, nutritious food and most importantly, dignity.

War on Women Report: Trump Slashes Sexual Violence Prevention; GOP Targets Teens’ Repro Rights; Nebraska Abortion Funeral Bill Threatens Miscarriage Care

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MAGA Republicans are back in the White House, and Project 2025 is their guide—the right-wing plan to turn back the clock on women’s rights, remove abortion access, and force women into roles as wives and mothers in the “ideal, natural family structure.” We know an empowered female electorate is essential to democracy. That’s why day after day, we stay vigilant in our goals to dismantle patriarchy at every turn. We are watching, and we refuse to go back. This is the War on Women Report.

Since our last report:
—Republicans in Indiana have gotten rid of a requirement for schools to teach about consent in sex education classes.
—Some good news out of Georgia: Prosecutors have dropped all charges against 24-year-old Selena Chandler-Scott after the national backlash that came when they arrested her after her miscarriage.
—On Saturday, April 5, over 1,200 demonstrations took place nationwide to protest the recent policies and actions of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
—Legislators in Nebraska are advancing a bill that would require abortion providers to bury or cremate fetal remains and embryonic tissue after an abortion, leaning into fetal personhood arguments.

… and more.

Keeping Score: Bill Disenfranchising Women Voters Passes U.S. House, Heads to Senate; Barbara Lee Becomes Mayor of Oakland; Republicans Threaten SNAP and Medicaid

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week: Only 34 percent of single women are looking for a relationship, compared to 54 percent of single men; the House passed the SAVE Act which could disenfranchise 69 million married women; Sen. Booker (D-N.J.) broke Senate speech record; Medicaid and SNAP are at risk of cuts; Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains illegally deported and imprisoned, and Trump says “homegrowns” are next; marking Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Equal Pay Day; 13 states have recently introduced bills to improve menopause care; Democratic Women’s Caucus leaders and over 150 House members urged RFK Jr. to restore frozen Title X funding; Georgia dropped charges against Selena Chandler-Scott, who was arrested after being found unconscious and bleeding after a miscarriage; and more.

The President’s Executive Order on Elections, Explained

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on March 25 that aims to illegally overhaul and take control of major parts of the nation’s election systems. He claimed extraordinary unilateral authority to regulate federal elections and usurp the powers of Congress, the states and an independent bipartisan federal agency. This violates the Constitution and various federal laws. If implemented, the order could disenfranchise millions of American citizens, compromise the security of sensitive personal data, and disrupt election administration across the country.

What would the executive order on elections do? Is the executive order legal? Is this executive order the same as the SAVE Act?

North Carolina Is Asking People to Vote According to Rules the State Hasn’t Set

Five months out, chaos continues in a state Supreme Court race that was counted, recounted and audited.

On Friday, a state appeals court reopened Pandora’s Box by calling into question more than 60,000 votes cast in North Carolina’s Nov. 5 general election. This gives the Republican candidate, Jefferson Griffin, new hope to close his 734-vote deficit, out of 5,540,090 total votes, against Democratic candidate Allison Riggs.