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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.

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.
Jessica Pishko,

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.
Jaisal Noor,

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.
Alex Burness,

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.
Piper French,
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.
Alex Burness,

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.