KOR In The News

This lame duck Congress has a lot on its plate, and many of these items have received considerable coverage: the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, reform of the Electoral Count Act, and, as always, government funding. But there’s one more issue sitting before the House right now that deserves attention. Several important bills…

Over the last several years many have bemoaned the plague of extraordinarily deep partisan divides spreading across the country, fraying our unity, undermining social trust, and tearing at our democracy. At first blush, the midterm results offer two contrasting takeaways about this: the divides seem a little less intense, yet the extremist views that drive…

Local election workers and volunteers who work the polls, count the votes and otherwise make sure our elections are fair and secure have long been unheralded and underappreciated. But the importance of their work and the challenges they face have never been fully recognized. Misinformation and conspiracy theories propagated in recent years, and particularly since…

It could take days or even months to know the final results of Tuesday’s election. That’s especially true of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race between John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz which, based on polls, could come down to a “razor’s edge” margin. Moreover, once the vote is counted, candidates and parties are likely to challenge…

York, PA — Just hours after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court drops a ruling on a case involving undated mail ballots, more questions than answers remain. Undated ballots is just one of a slew of potential legal issues heading into the midterm election. With over 1.4 million mail ballots in the mix for this midterm election, court…

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s evenly divided result in the latest case seeking clarity on vote-by-mail rules is a set up for “utter chaos” after polls close in the midterm elections next week, retired federal Judge John E. Jones said. In a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday, Jones and two more retired federal judges from across…

On a recent evening at the Keystone Horse Center, in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano, the fifty-eight-year-old Republican candidate for governor and a onetime insurrectionist, climbed onto a dais in the soft dirt of the show ring, surrounded by chrysanthemums. Columbia County occupies an edge of the state’s northeastern coal region. Mastriano, who is tall…

One Sunday afternoon in November, several of President Jimmy Carter’s former aides and advisers met on Zoom for a private call. Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of State, made an appearance, along with Dick Gephardt, the former House Democratic leader. Les Francis, a former deputy White House chief of staff in the Carter administration, was…

Former Senator Tim Wirth and I wrote a column recently on how a Republican landslide in the House of Representatives races this fall will create a very clear path for Donald Trump to be re-elected president of the United States. Not that I think Donald Trump would win the popular vote, or even achieve an Electoral College…

The Jan. 6 Committee hearings that began last week will highlight the many ways in which Donald Trump’s presidency exposed the fragility of our democracy. Indeed, Congress has been considering major reform packages to shore up democracy’s guardrails by codifying restraints on executive power. The White House has applauded these efforts, but it’s time for President Biden to ramp up support. A rare…

The states’ rights theory embraced by slaveholding states before the US Civil War and later used to defend racial segregation is again threatening civil rights and the underpinnings of the American state. The doctrine is part of a right-wing legal insurgency attacking everything from federal regulation to the electoral system. WASHINGTON, DC – The old…

The very foundation of our democracy has been tested over the last two years. It has withstood the challenge so far, but the cracks are showing. A cornerstone that has helped our republic withstand the storm has been the local election officials from both parties who have been administering our elections faithfully and fairly under…