Bolts

A prisoner saw his conviction vacated after decades on death row, as the testimony of a pair of doctors was discredited as junk science. But his case may not be over, and the upcoming DA race will shape what comes next.

NEW: My midterms cheat sheet features 670+ races—up and down the ballot, & why they matter. Now it's in PDF, printable form! Save it, print it, give it to your kids to color the Senate map, & use it your worksheet on election night. Find it here: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

Capital & Main reports on an anti-ICE protester who lost an eye after being shot with a less-lethal round by a federal agent:

A measure to lower the voting age to 16 in local elections in Culver City, California, follows earlier experiments across the county, including 10 cities and towns in Maryland, beginning in 2013 with a Washington D.C. suburb.

In Maryland, just 50 miles from DC, a sheriff has relentlessly targeted local immigrants for over 20 years. He is running for reelection next week in a county that went for Harris over Trump. Make sure to share story: boltsmag.org/frederick-co...

Federal immigration authorities are under no legal obligation to hold people they arrest near where they were detained or where their attorneys are. “I’ve seen guys come in one night, and the next day they’re shipped out,” says a former detainee.

One man at a Jefferson County commission meeting this month said money budgeted for a now-ended contract with Flock should instead go to hiring another sheriff’s deputy. “That’s where we should have our money going. Actual humans solving actual crimes.”

The midterms will decide who is running election mechanics in 2028, the next presidential cycle. Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio are just some of the states with open contests for secretary of state.

Culver City’s vice mayor supports a ballot measure to lower the voting age in local elections, saying it encourages voter participation later in life. “It creates habitual voters for life. When they start voting earlier, they keep voting.”

Chris Duncan spent decades on death row before he was declared innocent last year. Now, there’s an open race to lead the DA’s office that relentlessly prosecuted him. “It’s a change that’s been long past due,” he told Bolts.

In the second Trump administration, transfers of immigrant detainees from one jail to another have become the norm for ICE. “We have seen our clients… get transferred sometimes in batches, sometimes just individually across the country multiple times.”

Women advocating for Californians with incarcerated family members were involved at every step of the legislative process behind a law Governor Newsom signed this month that makes it easier to visit family in prisons.

Prism reports on a police surveillance platform owned by Axon that is rapidly expanding, even as local resistance to Flock sweeps the nation:

As a GOP legislator in North Carolina, Sarah Stevens helped her party adopt gerrymanders and strict voter ID rules. Now she’s running to unseat Democratic Justice Anita Earls, who voted to strike down those laws.

Culver City’s vice mayor says lowering the voting age in local elections could strengthen civic engagement and voting habits. “We are at an existential moment for democracy in this county. And here we have people who are ready and willing to be engaged.”

Do you know which state legislatures could flip in November? Our midterms guide walks you through the key states to watch, and the districts that will make or break majorities.

Orange County, in New York, has detained immigrants for ICE for nearly two decades. The sheriff is now suing the state after New York lawmakers banned the contract.

Chris Duncan spent decades on death row before being found innocent on appeal. Before his wrongful conviction, he says the system was “something I used to believe in.” He added, “I don’t believe [in] that anymore because I’ve seen the truth of it.”

Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer authorized armed volunteers to work for his office with little guidance. “If anybody came for anyone based on a law that he didn’t agree with, he would deputize a room full of people,” says a local community advocate.

Alabama’s governor commuted the death sentence of Toforest Johnson, AL.com reports: www.al.com/news/birm...

Louisville Public Media reports on Indiana State Police helping ICE detain commercial truckers:

A new California law making it easier to visit family in prison comes after a string of failed attempts in the state legislature. Governor Newsom also vetoed a visitation bill in 2021 over concern it would lead to costly litigation.

Frustrated by budget cuts that were approved by their school board, students in Culver City, California, have pushed for a ballot measure that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local school board and city council elections.

SCOTUS blocked the USPS rule that Trump demanded in a bid to restrict mail voting. But a different USPS policy affecting when mail is postmarked could still pose obstacles. Experts say people should mail forms and ballots as early as they can.

The Trump administration has proposed excluding noncitizens from the census and cutting questions about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. What are their goals, and what would the political consequences be? Our explainer has more:

A Democrat running for sheriff in this New York county criticizes the GOP incumbent’s support of ICE: “Orange County residents deserve a Sheriff who is focused on their needs, not one chasing national headlines at the expense of public trust.”

“I’m proud that I have more complaints than any other officer or sheriff in the state,” Sheriff Keith Swank said at a public hearing in June in Pierce County, Washington. Voters next month are deciding a measure that would end his term early.

Many Republican candidates for secretary of state have mirrored Trump’s priorities on voting, proposing to restrict mail voting and remove ballot drop boxes. We break down these elections state by state:

Alvin Sharp is running to be the first Black DA in his corner of northeast Louisiana. While serving as a judge, he vacated the conviction of Chris Duncan, who spent decades on death row.

New York lawmakers this spring barred localities from contracting with ICE. Orange County, whose jail has served as a waystation in ICE’s national detention network, has since become a key test of the law’s implementation.

An advocate for lowering the voting age says adding younger voters to the electorate can help reverse civic disengagement. “For us as adults to completely disregard them is a reason why trust in American democracy among young people continues to erode.”

Cities all around the country are electing their mayors and city councils this fall, offering voters stark choices on issues such as policing and housing. The hotspots to watch include Los Angeles, Tallahassee, Louisville, Portland, and plenty more:

For @boltsmag.org, I looked at the ongoing dissolution of the ICE detention contract in NY's Orange County; these have gotten less attention that the also-banned 287(g) agreements, but are very significant, and the local sheriff's posture is making a once-sleepy race more heated

The Missouri Independent reports on a ballot measure in the state that would require sheriffs to be elected and make it harder to remove them:

NEW: Pro-ICE sheriffs in New York are suing the state over a law that has forced them to end ICE contract. But what does that mean for immigrants and ICE detainees in their counties? We dove into Orange County, a populous area of 60 miles north of NYC, to find out. boltsmag.org/new-york-imm...

Who are the local and state officials responsible for counting, canvassing, and certifying elections next month? Bolts lays out who is responsible in each and every state, and how they come to occupy these positions in the first place.

Across the country, "constitutional sheriffs" are facing significant pushback. In Washington's Klickitat County, there are signs the movement may endure Read this story from our collab with @boltsmag.org www.investigatewest.org/a-constituti...

Klickitat County’s current sheriff deputized volunteer posses to work under his direction, with few guidelines. What will become of these posses now that he is retiring?

NEW in Bolts: New York's Orange County was forced to end its lucrative contract to detain immigrants in the local jail. Sheriff Paul Arteta, who's up for reelection, is among those suing to keep it.

Did you know that Bolts has a weekly newsletter? ✉️ Subscribing to it is the best way to keep up with updates on local elections we're following and our latest deep-diving stories on criminal justice and voting rights.

More than half of North Carolina’s community colleges failed to get their student IDs approved for voting in November, NC Local reports:

If Alvin Sharp wins his DA race in Louisiana, he says he would set up a conviction integrity unit to review old cases like Chris Duncan’s for errors or evidence of innocence. Similar units have led to exonerations across the country.

Families impacted by incarceration have been on the frontlines of the fight to protect the prison visiting experience in California. This month, Governor Newsom signed a law making it easier to visit incarcerated family members.

South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson was ousted this summer at the GOP’s party convention. She now supports the Democratic nominee who is looking to replace her. The state is among 35 choosing their next chief elections official.

There's a lot of talk right now about what happens *after* votes are cast. So a reminder: Bolts has a state-by-state, 50-state resource on WHO COUNTS AND CERTIFIES the results. Always with the hope that it doesn't end up useful to know, but bookmark it:

Chris Duncan spent nearly 30 years on death row in Louisiana before a judge declared him to be innocent, finding his conviction was based on junk science. That judge is now running to lead the office that prosecuted Duncan.

what you should know: —Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia could codify abortion rights in the state constitution; in Idaho, this would reverse the current ban. —But Missouri could reinstate an abortion ban; GOP lawmakers are trying to get voters to go back on their 2024 vote.

In this week’s newsletter: -Students in an LA suburb campaign to lower the voting age -The judge who freed Chris Duncan from death row wants to run the office that prosecuted him -Voters in 27 states are electing supreme court justices And a lot more: