Articles that are timeless – that apply to ongoing issues and situations. (Photo by Joseph Young / Unsplash)
Election security is a three-legged stool: voter registration security, voting security, and vote tabulation security. Each of those “legs” must be secure for us to say with confidence that our elections are secure. In this series, we will look at each leg in turn to see just how secure it
One year ago, we saw an election where a foreign country and its partners not only tried to influence voters through propaganda, but actively tried to hack election systems around the country. The 2018 elections are a year away. As we look back at 2016 and ahead to 2018, citizens
As Governor Bevin is about to call one or more special sessions of the General Assembly to deal with the issues of pensions and tax reform, it is appropriate to review how the Kentucky General Assembly operates. The structure and general procedures of the General Assembly are specified in the
As citizens of the United States are in uncharted waters with the ascendency of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States, we are beginning to ask whether our institutions are strong enough to contain the authoritarian tendencies of an erratic President. A number of those institutions have indeed
In response to my recent plugging of my daughter’s nascent contract programming business and my reference to the POTUS’ Twittering support of his own daughter’s business to justify it, a long time subscriber and correspondent wrote, “I am SICK TO DEATH of the politicization of EVERYTHING. Strike two,
To President Trump, or his staff, or any elected official or corporate executive or even citizen who has bought into the lie that the press is the problem, let me be perfectly clear: We are not the enemy. A free press, reporting the facts, uncovering the truth, is part of
In the United States, there are around 6.1 million people [http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/6-Million-Lost-Voters.pdf] who are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction, including 3.1 million who have completed their sentences. This represents about 2.5% of the total voting age population. While
Do you know your voter rights as a Kentucky voter? While our elections almost always go very smoothly, thanks to good work by all levels of government and some very dedicated voluteers, it is always good to know your rights in case things DON’T go smoothly. Our excellent Secretary
In most elections, we would not feel the need to post a story about voter intimidation. However, with emotions running so high this year, and with Trump calling for random people to show up and “watch what’s happening,” we believe it is important for every voter to know what
Worried about Trump’s “Poll Watching Police” disrupting your polling place? Fired up about protecting the vote, and think you want to go be a poll watcher yourself to counter Trump’s talk? Before you get scared and decide to stay home, OR decide to pick some random polling location
Are you sick of Big Money in politics? Are you tired of good candidates without money being tsunamied by bad candidates with millions? There is a way to change this, and it is something we can do right here in Kentucky: publicly funded elections. It is becoming increasingly common around
Here’s a question for you: Is it possible to speak the truth, to advocate for causes, to call out harmful actions, without at the same time being hate-full? (Hyphen intended.) Or is anger, disgust, and disdain a required part of the work? As we build out Forward Kentucky, we
Dear leges: Why jump to #107, and skip the first 106 improvements? Are you pushing charter schools for some reason OTHER THAN learning improvement?
Charter schools, and whether or not we should have them in Louisville, is a hot topic, and bound to get even hotter. At Forward Kentucky, we’re beginning a series of articles exploring whether charter schools are as miraculous as their promoters state, or as evil as their detractors claim.
I wasn’t surprised to see Kent Oyler’s editorial [http://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/2016/01/12/gli-backs-right-work-attract-business/78694176/] extolling the benefits of so-called Right-to-Work. After all, Mr. Oyler’s salary is paid by business owners, for whom busting unions and lowering wages is a long-sought dream. For
I recently discussed the need for paid family leave, its benefits for children and parents, and the overall popularity of the policy. I also argued that Louisville and Kentucky have an opportunity to be on the front end on the policy debate. Seeing its successful implementation in other areas, there
