Democrats sank headlining criminal justice reforms, like shielding preteens from prosecution or streamlining clemency, plus other progressive goals from rent control to gig worker protections.
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The Latest
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.
Policing democracy
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.
Voting From Jail
Efforts to Expand Ballot Access in Washington State Jails Face Local Pushback
Only a handful of counties applied for new state funding to ensure eligible voters aren’t disenfranchised in county lockups, while some local officials actively blocked such attempts.
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.
Democracy and local experiments
Pennsylvania Votes
In Pennsylvania’s 2023 DA Races, There’s Already a Winner: Unopposed Prosecutors
The debates are over before they begin in much of the state, though a few counties like Allegheny still stand out for offering voters a stark contrast on criminal justice policy.
New York Votes
Who Is Running for DA and Sheriff in New York in 2023?
Dozens of counties across the state are electing their chief prosecutors and sheriffs this year.
Chicago Votes
Chicago Election Puts Police Oversight in Voters’ Hands
On Tuesday, Chicagoans will elect new district councils tasked with oversight, but police-backed candidates may lessen their impact.
Abortion rights
The 2023 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.
