Coronavirus has reshaped how Californians live, learn and work in uneven ways. The pandemic has exposed the state’s long-standing digital divide with a significant share of low-income and rural households lacking reliable internet access. And even though employers have quickly adapted to remote work, the opportunity to work from home has not spread evenly across the workforce. Many Latino and Black workers who work in essential fields find themselves taking more risks to stay employed, leading to higher rates of infection and death in those communities of color.

Libertarians across the country organized #LetHerSpeak convoys Saturday with vehicles adorned in purple and gold and messages calling on the Commission on Presidential Debates to include Libertarian presidential nominee Jo Jorgensen in the fall presidential debates.

Editor's note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher.

The vast majority of people who were unhoused in California before coronavirus swept across the state are exactly where they were. Encampments still line the streets. Shelters feel more like a risk than a refuge. And affordable housing is as elusive as ever.

Watch as they capture moments from their everyday lives — and talk about how they struggle to stay safe and healthy under circumstances that have often grown only more hazardous.

If Joe Biden were to ask the framers of the constitution what qualities he should look for in a running mate, they might single out one in particular: a love of lucubration.  It literally means working by candlelight. This “nocturnal study,” as Samuel Johnson called it, was an important part of the political lingo of the 1780s and might just be one of the best measures of one’s fitness for executive office. 

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum, and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher.

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Iowa's governor decreed Wednesday that most felons in the state may vote starting this fall, ending the state's status as the only place in the country where convicted criminals are denied the franchise forever.

After failing to submit enough valid signatures for a People’s Veto, Maine’s Republican bosses are again trying to kill ranked-choice voting (RCV). In this case, the GOP leadership is hiding behind four Maine voters who claim that they may be disenfranchised by the system. 

The beyond frivolous suit filed July 22 claims that Mainers who choose not to fill out their ballot completely are “denied full participation” in the election. This is ridiculous. All voters are treated equally on the RCV ballot, and offered more full participation than a “vote-for-one” ballot.

Kansas Republicans have apparently moved on from former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Party members nominated US Rep. Roger Marshall over Kobach Tuesday to be the party’s nominee for US Senate, reportedly heeding the advice of establishment Republicans who do not have faith in Kobach’s ability to win.

It’s a decision that could also make several election reformers happy as Kobach often used his official position as secretary of state to protect his own interests and the interests of his party at the expense of the rights of voters and candidates: 

There is growing consensus among pro-voter reformers that when we discuss comprehensive solutions to provide voters with better elections, primary election reform has to be a part of the conversation. 

As it stands, millions of voters nationwide have no meaningful voice in the elections process because taxpayer-funded partisan primary elections are designed to explicitly give an advantage to the two dominant political parties and their members.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch is the latest newspaper to publish an endorsement of a constitutional amendment that would end single-party control over redistricting in Virginia and bring transparency to the process. The Times-Dispatch joins other major newspaper endorsements in Virginia, including The Virginian-Pilot, The Washington Post, Daily Press, The Roanoke Times, and others.