Carrie Levine
@levinecarrie
Interim editor-in-chief, @VotebeatUS. Always following the money.
Wrote about the non-citizen voting provision here — lots of lobbying on Dems since then, but Fetterman sounded like a “yes” on keeping non citizens out of DC elections semafor.com/article/07/01/…
NEWS: A proposed Republican spending bill includes a number of provisions impacting D.C. laws and programs. The bill would: - Repeal D.C.'s assisted suicide law. - Prohibit D.C. from using traffic cameras, or to ban rights turns on red. - Repeal non-citizen voting in D.C.
“Pennsylvania election officials are hoping that a newly designed envelope for provisional ballots will reduce the numbers tossed for technical reasons.” inquirer.com/politics/elect…
New for @VotebeatUS: Michigan is the latest state to get a letter from the DOJ questioning the state's voter rolls and how they're maintained. An expert take and additional context here: votebeat.org/michigan/2025/…
NEW: Despite having $3.4 million in reserves, the Upper Guadalupe River Authority in Kerr County chose to cut taxes and turn down a 0% interest loan from the state rather than fund a $1 million flood warning system upgrade. W/@keribla houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga…
NEW: Gov. Greg Abbott told members of Congress he was skeptical about calling a special session to redraw Texas’ congressional maps. Most Texas Republicans were not a fan, either. Then Trump called. How the redistricting effort came to be: @TexasTribune texastribune.org/2025/07/22/tex…
The cyberattack occurred two days after the June 21 U.S. bombing of Iran. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security had issued a warning the day after the airstrikes that cyberattacks by “pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely."
NEW: Hackers who breached Arizona election website aimed at other agencies, too. The top cybersecurity official for the state's Department of Homeland Security tells me he believes Iran was likely involved, given the image uploaded, methods & persistence votebeat.org/arizona/2025/0…
The Texas House has set its hearings on redistricting: 7/24 @ the capitol, 2pm (or upon adjournment) 7/26 @ Univ. of Houston, 11am 7/28 @ UT-Arlington, 5pm Public comment limited to five hours at each hearing
This stock trading issue is not going away for him and, per people I have talked to, makes this the seat Republicans are most anxious about losing, after the Bacon seat in NE.
👀👀👀 Rob Bresnahan’s stock trading gets called out in the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience #PA08
Global hack: The notification process through nonprofit Center for Internet Security took six hours Saturday night-much longer than it otherwise would have, bc the threat-intelligence and incident-response teams have been cut by 65 percent as CISA slashed funding, Randy Rose said
NEW: Global hack on governments and businesses using Microsoft SharePoint servers hits U.S., state agencies, researchers say washingtonpost.com/technology/202…
Please read this story all the way to the end, you will not regret it.
🧵NEW: WEC appointees yesterday questioned why the former Madison clerk was absent as 193 ballots were missing. Records obtained by Votebeat show she was having a baking "staycation" amid the snafu, and when she returned to work she had staff deliver cookies around the city
This is probably the first time Votebeat has had to write "records of the baking haven't been previously reported." Elections! But seriously, read this one. @AlexanderShur
Records of the baking haven't been previously reported, and weren't part of WEC's investigation of the incident. “This is remarkable,” GOP commissioner Don Millis said when Votebeat showed him some findings. “None of the witnesses we deposed disclosed her cookie staycation.”
Wait. Do what now? Seems like the "reject unnecessary cookies" option could have been chosen here?
NEW: Madison clerk was on a cookie-baking staycation as missing-ballot mess unfolded votebeat.org/wisconsin/2025…
Update: The hacker changed the candidates' headshots to an image of the Iranian Ayatollah, the leader of Iran, with Persian words that were favorable to Iran. The hacker replaced all of the 2024 general election candidate photos on the election results page with this image.
New: A hacker gained access to the web portal Arizona candidates use to upload info about themselves and changed candidate headshots that were live on the election results website, three weeks before the special congressional primary election, @VotebeatUS has learned. Story in 🧵
This is Newsom’s argument, but I don’t think there’s enough time to hold a ballot measure election and redraw before 2026. Filing deadlines are in March.
My understanding is that they can call a special election with a ballot measure abolishing the IRC. If it’s approved, then the Legislature would be able to redistrict in advance of the midterms.
New: a group of independent voters is asking the state supreme court to declare Pennsylvania's closed primary system unconstitutional. Story to come later today.
Story: Pennsylvania redesigns envelopes for provisional ballots to cut down on rejections votebeat.org/pennsylvania/2…
“Improvements to envelope design might seem like a small thing, but it has a huge impact on the ability for Pennsylvanians…to have their votes counted,” said Seth Bluestein, a Republican city commissioner for Philadelphia, which worked with @PAStateDept on the new design.
Story: Pennsylvania redesigns envelopes for provisional ballots to cut down on rejections votebeat.org/pennsylvania/2…
Gov. @GavinNewsom tells @TheTNHoller that if @GregAbbott_TX does mid-decade redistricting to help Rs, California may do the same — “with two-thirds majorities in the legislature, could gerrymander like no other state.” He says California has been “playing fair” with an…
Skiing! Wine! Concert tickets! Airplanes! A "naturally based wellness provider!" Inside the Kyrsten Sinema post-Senate spending spree experience, fueled by campaign contributions. New in @NOTUSreports: notus.org/money/kyrsten-…
ICYMI, from Friday: A criminally indicted AZ elected official who voted to delay his county's 22 midterm results past the legal deadline now wants the taxpayers to pay his $300K in legal bills- and the county wants the statewide insurance pool to cover it. votebeat.org/arizona/2025/0…