One scanning error should not delay an entire ballot batch

American campaigns and voting, from primaries and general elections to the candidates, money and rules that decide them. Covers federal, state and local contests, the machinery of casting and counting ballots, and the disputes over access that follow almost every cycle.

Platform regulation, artificial intelligence, surveillance, data privacy and the antitrust scrutiny of large firms, as they are argued in American politics. A domain where federal law lags well behind deployment, leaving states and the courts to set the boundaries instead.

Legal and political framework governing who may vote in the United States and how, covering the Voting Rights Act, constitutional amendments and the litigation over registration, purges and district maps. Access and integrity are the two poles the argument moves between.

Ballots distributed and returned by post, covering absentee rules, eligibility, deadlines, signature verification and how election officials process them. Expanded sharply during the 2020 pandemic and contested ever since, making it one of the sharpest partisan divides in election administration.

The Postal Service's final rule, effective 21 August under Executive Order 14399, routes mail voting through a portal building Mail-In and Absentee Participation Lists of who may vote by mail. Twenty-four states and the District sued on 26 August, winning a temporary restraining order.