March 24, 2023
Texas Bill Tries to Shroud Jail Deaths in Even More Secrecy
A new proposal could let sheriffs investigate themselves, undermining the Sandra Bland Act that helped expose the state’s deadly jail conditions.
March 17, 2023
Pair of Reforms to Expand the Electorate Become Law in D.C.
March 20, 2023
“An Attack on Direct Democracy in Arkansas”
March 13, 2023
New Mexico Is Making It Easier to Vote
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Criminal Justice Elections
Which Counties Elect Their Prosecutors and Sheriffs in 2023?
There are nearly 500 elections for prosecutor and sheriff scheduled in 2023. This is the Bolts database of those local elections.
Election Administration
Who Runs Our Elections?
Our database compiles, state-by-state, the local offices who are responsible for administering elections at the county and municipal level.
In 2023, Politics Is Local
Bolts covers the nuts and bolts of power and political change, from the local up. We’re a digital magazine that reports on the places, people, and policies that shape public policy. We are focusing on criminal justice and voting rights, and we also share databases and cheat sheets to help you follow on our vertical What’s on the Ballot.
Our Guides to the 2022 Midterms
Abortion Rights and Criminalization
The Big Lie
The Big Lie Messengers Who Carry a Badge and Gun
Arizona’s Mark Lamb and a network of far-right sheriffs around the country are partnering with leading purveyors of election fraud conspiracies, part of an escalating campaign to police the vote.
Harm Reduction
In the Netherlands, Safe Drug Consumption Sites Are Saving Lives. The U.S. Is Resisting.
After years of activism, the Dutch have embraced state-sponsored supervised injection sites as the standard of care for opioid treatment. Reporting from Amsterdam, our writer finds that they offer lessons for the U.S., where the war on drugs has failed to stop an overdose crisis.
Voter Registration
New Washington D.C. Bill Would End Voter Registration As You Know It
The D.C. council will consider setting up a database of residents the city has verified as eligible to vote, expanding on its current automatic voter registration system.
Immigration enforcement and sheriffs
Democracy and local experiments
Upcoming Elections
Long ReadS
May 5, 2022
A Future for Susanville
Plans to shutter a California prison offer halting glimpses of a different world: an economy that doesn’t revolve around incarceration, a country where losing your job isn’t tantamount to ruin, and an opening for abolition.
October 31, 2022
‘The Arpaio of the East’ Faces His First Opponent in 12 Years. Is Anyone Watching?
Thomas Hodgson, the longest-serving sheriff in Massachusetts, is infamous among jail watchdogs for dangerous conditions, medical neglect, malnutrition, and mounting suicides.
Election Offices
What’s on The Ballot
What’s on the Ballot
Thousands of public officials have decisive roles in policy-making. Our cheat sheets and databases offer resources on who has the power to do what, and how they come to be in power.