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Booths await voters at the Pennington County Administration Building during early voting on Jan. 19, 2026, for a municipal election in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Photo by Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) With less than 30 days until primary elections, new statistics show that the number of active voters in Alabama has decreased since 2022. Voter statistics for March that were given to the Voting Registration Advisory Board members during its meeting on Thursday show Alabama has 3.29 million active voters. This is a 17,000 person decrease from four years ago, when the state had 3.31 million active voters. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said in a statement that “Alabama boasts one of the cleanest and most accurate voter files in the country.” The state also saw an increase in inactive voters going from 392,000 in 2022 to over 500,000 last month. Voter Registration Advisory Board Chairman John Lackey said after the meeting “there are fluctuations in voter numbers at dif...

Gov. Kay Ivey enters the Alabama State Capitol ahead of the State of the State address speech on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. A bill that would have allowed parole applicants, crime victims and law enforcement to participate remotely in parole hearings died after the Legislature failed to act on changes proposed by Ivey before adjourning. (Estela Muñoz for Alabama Reflector) A bill that would have allowed parole applicants, victims and law enforcement to virtually address the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles died after lawmakers failed to act on an executive amendment from Gov. Kay Ivey on the final day of the 2026 legislative session. SB 240 , sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road had bipartisan support and went to Ivey on April 7. However, Ivey proposed a change to the bill that Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for Ivey, said was “necessary” in a statement on Wednesday. “It would have changed the effective date to coincide with the fiscal year and required G...

Jennifer Frazer, an auxiliary teacher, plays musical sticks with students at Faulkner University Pre-K in Montgomery, Ala., Tuesday, May 21, 2024. A new report praised the quality of Alabama's Pre-K program, but urged officials to work to make the program universal. (Alabama Reflector Photo by Stew Milne) A new report praised the quality of Alabama’s Pre-K program for a 20th consecutive year, though the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) did have criticisms for the state. Alabama is now the longest running state to hit all 10 of NIEER’s research-based quality standards. Allison Friedman-Krauss, an associate research professor at NIEER, said in an interview Wednesday that the group looks at the state “as a poster child for preschool, especially at how they’ve been building the program.”  “Alabama’s really prefaced quality and has been gradually expanding their program over the last 10 (to) 15 years to add more children as fast as they can without compro...

The U.S. Capitol on the evening of Sept. 30, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) The race by each party to redraw U.S. House districts in their favor could be headed for a draw after Tuesday’s big win for Democrats in Virginia, though major shifts are still possible before crucial midterm elections in November. Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment that clears the path for the state’s legislature, controlled by Democrats, to redraw congressional district lines to benefit Democrats in 10 of the commonwealth’s 11 U.S. House districts.  That could net the party four new seats in Virginia, though state court cases challenging the proposal are still to be decided. Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Florida Republican who now leads the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, said the results showed a dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump and the nation’s capital in general. President Donald Trump ...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 7, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that Democrats will use the unlimited number of amendment votes they are allowed on Republicans’ budget resolution to illustrate policy differences on cost-of-living issues and immigration activities.  “We are for reducing costs for the American people, whether it’s housing or whether it’s health care or whether it’s electric costs or whether it’s groceries or whether it’s child care,” he said. “And they are funding a rogue police force that is not even popular with the American people.” Republicans voted Tuesday  to begin debate on their budget resolution, which holds instructions that would allow the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as well as the Judiciary Committee to each write a bill that spends up to $70 billion on immigration enforcement....

A voter deposits a mail-in ballot at the drop box outside the Chester County Government Center in West Chester, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Peter Hall/Pennsylvania Capital-Star) A dozen Republican state attorneys general are moving to defend President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail ballots from legal challenges mounted by Democrats. The GOP officials, led by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, argued in multiple court filings Monday and Tuesday in response to Democratic lawsuits that the  March 31 order provides states with “optional resources” to help secure their elections and doesn’t endanger voting rights. The states “would like to access this resource so they may verify the accuracy of their own voter-registration lists. This flow of information between federal and state agencies is a common and critical feature of our federal system,” the Republican officials wrote in  a court document . The attorneys general of Alabama, Fl...