Flood of poll-watchers for midterms

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This is a polarized country. There is the risk that people will see other poll monitor programs designed for intimidation and lump us all together.”

– Dan Vicuna, senior policy director for voting and fair representation at Common Cause.

Political party poll watchers are showing up more and more, usually outside polling places, David Lightman reports. They have a different mission than the nonpartisan election observers long regarded as bulwarks of credibility, and there’s concern that voters will be confused who’s there to influence them and who’s there to protect them.

Championed as one of the most consequential and bipartisan federal housing laws in decades, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act enacted this month makes significant changes across federal housing policy. Robbie Sequeira has the details.

Three people who observed federal immigration enforcement during the Trump administration’s sometimes-violent surge said in a federal lawsuit filed Friday the Department of Homeland Security illegally subjected them to surveillance and retaliation including by revoking their status in the department’s trusted traveler programs. Jacob Fischler has the story.

As the National Conference of State Legislatures and The Pew Charitable Trusts work together on a project to bring people together across the political divide, NCSL’s Tim Storey and Pew’s Sue Urahn write in a joint commentary about the importance of rekindling trust in our democracy.

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