Police in New Delhi detained hundreds of people Friday amid a crackdown on demonstrations challenging India’s election authorities and their controversial revision of voter rolls, prompting Amnesty International to accuse the government of trampling fundamental rights in the world’s largest democracy. More than 700 protesters — including former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena…
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This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Oct. 02, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
An analysis published Friday by Democracy Docket warned that “tens of thousands” of voters across the US face “risk of disenfranchisement” thanks to actions being taken by the United States Postal Service.
The analysis, written by veteran election reporter Jim Saksa, points to a new USPS policy known as Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) that “will eliminate evening mail pickups from post offices more than 50 miles away from a regional processing facility, most of which are located in major urban areas.”
For people who live in these areas, ballots sent on Election Day will be postmarked and delivered at least a day later than in previous election years, thus making it ineligible to be included in final election tallies.
“In every state, a day’s delay in delivery means that if mail voters wait until the last day or two before the election to mail their ballot,” Saksa explained, “they could be disenfranchised.”
Saksa reported that this policy is currently active in “about 42.5% of all ZIP codes” in the continental US, and is scheduled to eventually take effect in around 70% of all ZIP codes. No additional ZIP codes are expected to be added between now and election day.
Saksa also said that voters concerned about their ballots not being counted should deliver them in person to their local post office, where they can ask an employee to postmark it.
President Donald Trump has tried for the last several months to use USPS to meddle with states’ mail-in voting systems.
In March, the president signed an executive
In this episode of Movement Memos, host Kelly Hayes talks with organizer Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson about what it means to defend an election under authoritarianism, beyond simply telling people to “vote harder.” They discuss the “win, prove, enforce” framework, the strategic case for early voting, how ordinary people can help protect the voting process, and why relational organizing and staying in…
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The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for election officials to resume using a federal immigration status verification system to check voter rolls for potential noncitizens — a significant victory for President Donald Trump’s administration, but one that’s likely to have little impact on the November midterm elections. The unsigned opinion hit pause on a lower court’s ruling from June…
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The ophthalmologist said he was going to touch my eyeball, then tilted my exam chair back in the darkness. I felt my body brace as movie torture scenes flashed through my mind. I noticed that I wasn’t breathing, so I practiced inhaling through my nose, and exhaling as steadily as I could for the rest of the exam. Noticing our bodies and breathing intentionally may sound simple…
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