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Ahead of the May 2024 primary, a drop box for mail-in ballots sits outside the Shelby County Courthouse Annex in Shelbyville, Kentucky. (Photo by McKenna Horsley/Kentucky Lantern) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service took another step Thursday in implementing a Trump administration policy to restrict mail-in voting, even as a high-stakes legal battle plays out and midterm elections approach. The agency published an  FAQ about its new rule that compels states to send their voter rolls to the federal government and only deliver mail ballots to voters who match federal citizenship data. The rule also updates standards for mail ballots that states have said would be difficult to implement before the Nov. 3 elections  that will determine the balance of Congress . The controversial rule, which two dozen Democratic states and voting rights groups are challenging in federal court, increases the federal government’s role in elections and voting.  The states have argued t...

Melanie Folwell, lead organizer for the ballot initiative in Idaho to restore abortion access, speaks to supporters at the Idaho Capitol in July. The nonprofit she leads, Idahoans United for Women and Families, is suing the state over a final segment of ballot language that will also appear in the statewide voter pamphlet. (Photo by Kelcie Moseley-Morris/Stateline) BOISE, Idaho — The group leading the effort to restore abortion access by ballot initiative in Idaho has filed a lawsuit against state officials over proposed language that will appear on the ballot and in a state-issued voter pamphlet. Idahoans United for Women and Families, the nonprofit organization that drafted the initiative — now called Proposition 1 — says the “yes” and “no” statements as prepared by Idaho officials violate the law guiding the initiative process and are confusing and misleading. Attorneys filed the lawsuit to the Idaho Supreme Court late Wednesday night. Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane stress...

A ballot drop box sits outside the library at Virginia Avenue Park in Santa Monica, California, on July 14, 2026. (Photo by Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator) Democrat-led states and voting rights groups re-filed lawsuits Wednesday to block the Trump administration from executing a new regulation to restrict mail-in voting, while a federal judge lifted a nationwide pause on the policy in line with this week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that handed the administration a procedural win. Democratic officials in 24 states and the District of Columbia launched  a new federal lawsuit challenging a U.S. Postal Service rule establishing federal vote-by-mail standards as unconstitutional and a coalition of voting rights advocates filed a supplemental  complaint against the USPS rule after the Supreme Court  struck down a similar suit as premature. The rule establishes new ballot-design requirements and mandates states collect information from voters and voting-age citizens an...

Helen Aponte, left, is a home care aide for Donna Logan, 81, of Wilmington, Ohio. Aponte spends Monday mornings helping Logan with daily household chores or a trip to the doctor’s office. Ohio and other states have lifted caregiver pay to address a shortage of workers. (Photo by Anne Saker for Stateline) WILMINGTON, Ohio — From her recliner in her tidy townhouse, Donna Logan offers advice to the first baby boomers to hit the big ‘8-0’ this year: Life can be good, especially with someone like Helen Aponte helping with laundry and housekeeping and the drive to the doctor’s office. “I do most things on my own,” said Logan, 81, a native of Wilmington, Ohio. “But having Helen come in once a week gives me confidence.” “I drive her, whatever she needs,” said Aponte, 52. “It makes me happy to help Donna stay in her home.” Logan and Aponte found each other about a year ago through the Council on Aging in Southwest Ohio in rural Clinton County, about 40 miles northeast of Cincinnati. For thre...

The Denny Chimes at the University of Alabama as seen on March 28, 2026. Student staff of two magazines filed an appeal with the 11th Circuit seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the university from terminating the publications.(Andrea Tinker/Alabama Reflector) Attorneys representing student staff at two University of Alabama magazines shut down by the school late last year appealed a lower court ruling to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday. A U.S. district court in May refused to issue a permanent injunction  to halt the suspension of Alice, a magazine that focused on issues related to women, and Nineteen Fifty-Six, that highlighted subject matters that dealt with the Black student community on campus. The school claimed that continued publication of the magazines could violate federal guidance on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. “Closing these magazines because of their editorial perspectives related to race and gender perpetuates discrimination, rather...

Facebook owner Meta agreed to pay nearly $18 billion to an array of U.S. states over claims its platforms intentionally addicted teens. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor) Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, on Wednesday agreed to pay 47 states, the District of Columbia, and a handful of U.S. territories, up to $17.1 billion in penalties over claims that its social media platforms are addictive and a danger to children. As part of the settlement , Meta also pledged to make changes to Instagram and Facebook that are designed to reduce young people’s use of the platforms. “Meta intentionally exploited kids for profit and then lied about it, claiming its products were safe when its own internal research confirmed the platforms were addictive and harmful,” said Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, a Democrat, in a statement announcing the settlement. “The physical, mental and emotional harms that intentionally addictive social media inflict on youth — an...