Author

Kira Lerner
Kira was the democracy reporter for States Newsroom where she covered voting, elections, redistricting, and efforts to subvert democracy.
Woman jailed for collecting 4 ballots in Arizona sparks fear of voting in majority Latino city
By: Kira Lerner - February 8, 2023
This story was produced in partnership with Type Investigations, with support from the Fund for Constitutional Government. SAN LUIS, ARIZONA – The small city of San Luis is tucked away in the far corner of Arizona, closer to Mexico than to any major U.S. city. The community is nearly 95% Latino and tight-knit — the […]
Future of U.S. election law at stake as Supreme Court hears North Carolina case
By: Kira Lerner and Lynn Bonner - December 7, 2022
WASHINGTON — North Carolina Republicans appeared to have at least three of the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative justices on their side Wednesday in a case that could determine the future of elections nationwide, and leave decisions about federal elections in the hands of state legislatures and beyond the reach of state courts. The Supreme Court […]
Conspiracy theorists urge voting as late as possible on Election Day to ‘stop the steal’
By: Kira Lerner - November 4, 2022
A close ally of Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano has a plan that she claims will help win him the election and prevent voter fraud: She wants voters to cast their ballots “as late in the day as possible” on Election Day. Conspiracy theorist Toni Shuppe, who has ties to QAnon and who is […]
Concerns grow that voter intimidation could disrupt midterm elections
By: Kira Lerner - November 3, 2022
PHOENIX — The two outdoor ballot drop boxes in Arizona’s Maricopa County are both unassuming — secure metal boxes, about the size of blue mailboxes, located just outside county buildings. But in recent weeks, they’ve at times been monitored by volunteers with far-right organizations, prompted by former President Donald Trump’s claims of widespread fraud and […]
Prolonged challenges by losing candidates could overshadow November election results
By: Kira Lerner - October 21, 2022
Joey Gilbert, a Reno-based attorney, lost the GOP primary for Nevada governor by roughly 26,000 votes in June, a margin of around 11 points. But he wasn’t ready to admit defeat. Empowered by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud after the 2020 election, Gilbert refused to concede. He offered a $25,000 reward […]
A conspiracy-fueled push to count ballots by hand gains traction
By: Kira Lerner - September 27, 2022
Nye County, a rural enclave in Nevada, has positioned itself as the epicenter of a Donald Trump-fueled conspiracy about the security of electronic vote tabulators. The Nye County Commission voted in March to make the county one of the first to act on the false narratives that machines that count votes are rigged. County Clerk […]
On Democracy Day, newsrooms draw attention to a crisis in the U.S. system of government
By: Kira Lerner - September 15, 2022
A recent poll found that 69 percent of both Democrats and Republicans think democracy in the United States is in danger of collapse. Almost two years after Donald Trump falsely claimed that voter fraud cost him the election and inspired a web of supporters and “big lie” candidates to also believe the election was rigged, […]
Election officials can’t access federal funding for security as violent threats mount
By: Kira Lerner - August 22, 2022
Correction: An earlier version of this report misstated how much in funding an advisory board awarded to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. The award totaled $241,000 in emergency funding. Colorado’s election officials, like so many across the country, faced a surge of violent threats after the 2020 election. Federal authorities are prosecuting a man […]
State elections officials struggle with paper shortages, harassment, insider threats
By: Kira Lerner - July 25, 2022
MADISON, Wis. — Elections officials from 33 states, gathered for a conference under tight security, warned that the next few election cycles will be affected by paper shortages and the potential for threats from inside elections offices. The meeting of the National Association of State Elections Directors last week was held with stringent security precautions, […]
Election officials risk criminal charges under 31 new GOP-imposed penalties
By: Kira Lerner - July 18, 2022
Since the 2020 election, Iowa has enacted one new felony and two new misdemeanor offenses targeting election officials. The state’s omnibus election law, passed in 2021, criminalizes election officials who fail to perform their duties, don’t adequately maintain voter lists, or interfere with other people performing their duties in or near a polling place. The […]
U.S. sues Arizona over proof of citizenship voting law
By: Kira Lerner - July 5, 2022
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division announced Tuesday that it has sued Arizona over a law signed by the state’s Republican governor in March that requires people registering to vote prove their citizenship to participate in a presidential election or to vote by mail in any federal election. Republican proponents of […]
The District of Columbia allows incarcerated people to vote, a rarity in the U.S.
By: Kira Lerner - June 20, 2022
This article is published through a collaboration between States Newsroom and Bolts. WASHINGTON — Earlier this month, about 10 men detained in the Young Men Emerging unit in the Washington, D.C., jail sat around a TV to watch the Democratic candidates for mayor debate issues including affordable housing and gun violence. “It was on a […]