iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I'm THRILLED to finally get my hands on this new book on the Voting Rights Act! I've long talked to author @kevintmorris.bsky.social, who is an indefatigable researcher of voting rights and the (worsening) state of democracy in this country. So I know for a fact I'll be learning a ton.

Photo of the book An American Problem by Michael Miller and Kevin Morris.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Did you know that my election cheat sheet has a section where you can check out the key legislative districts state by state? What are be the majority and supermajority makers, or races interesting for different reasons? Check it out! boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

folks, i can't tell you how many times i've rewatched this ad *that republicans are paying people to see*

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

checking in on MAHA PAC www.politico.com/news/2026/10...

“The latest evidence: fundraising reports from Lyons’ MAHA Political Action Committee that show fewer than 20 donors this year, totaling $1 million, far short of the $100 million Lyons promised to raise to help Republicans allied with Kennedy in this year’s elections. Many of its donors are companies that have interests before the Health Department, POLITICO found”

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Kansas has 4 former, living GOP governors. Two have now endorsed Adam Hamilton, the Dem, for Senate. Mike Hayden just penned this oped in the Kansas City Star this morning; Adam Graves had done the same last month.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

LGB (the T isn't even fully visible) is the scary foil in the brand-new GOP Super PAC ad against Hamilton (in the Kansas Senate race) 😱

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Big news in the Senate battle. After pouring $30 million in NC, John Thune's GOP SuperPAC stops spending there, effectively conceding Cooper is likely to win. And they're dumping their first 7-figures in Kansas. (Note: a Dem internal found Hamilton up today.) www.semafor.com/article/10/0...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

there's... a lot in here! the idea is for it to be a helpful resource for the next 5 weeks. boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Can we go back to this part of the Schmitt poster: at best, what were these texts supposed to show or prove? i thought they’d be some mention of the Hawkeyes, however dumb they’d have been, but no, not even that. You couldn’t make them more boring if you tried.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This was planned as Schmitt’s big day, with a “national ambitions trial balloon” in national media. Instead it’s ending like this.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Senator Schmitt doubles down, seemingly implying it’s risible for a man to be following a woman’s sport. (Any other interpretation of this post?)

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The article discusses the 2026 ban here! The link there is to a 2026 piece about the ban passing.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

there are a lot of interesting Supreme Court races that deserve more attention! boltsmag.org/your-state-b...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

SCOTUS, for the 3rd time, blocks Missouri from using its new GOP gerrymander. AND it defends Missouri's supreme court, blaming the secretary of state for the mess & the fact that voters are seeing different maps in the primary and general election. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

IMO one of the most important local elections in the country (boltsmag.org/prosecutor-a...)

"Long before Trump began sowing unfounded doubts about the 2020 presidential race, Republicans in Tarrant County, home to Fort Worth, were notorious for their selective enforcement of election laws and for the harsh prosecution of Crystal Mason, a woman who mistakenly thought she could vote while on probation and was sentenced years in prison.

DA Phil Sorrells, who came into office after the 2022 midterms, has continued that legacy. He helped launch a task force to police local elections, and he continued to prosecute Mason even after an appeals court overturned her conviction in 2024. This fall, he filed criminal charges against Lon Burnam, a former state lawmaker who was expelled from a public meeting and forcibly arrested for speaking out against a GOP plan to dramatically reduce polling places.

Sorrells faces Democratic challenger Tiffany Burks in a competitive rematch of their 2022 election. Burks, who has worked as a prosecutor in the office, has signaled a very different direction from Sorrells on such cases. “We are talking about a county where they are doing everything that they can to suppress the vote,” she said in an interview last month.

She is currently representing Burnam in court, and she said last month that her “first item on business” as DA would be to drop the county’s efforts to reinstate Mason’s conviction. (That won’t be necessary after all: Texas’ highest criminal court ruled in favor of Mason and against Sorrells on Sept. 24, upholding Mason’s 2024 acquittal.)"

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Texas GOP has been persecuting Crystal Mason for years; you've heard of her being sentenced to years in prison for voting while on probation. She says wife of the DA who's been trying to keep her in prison knocked on her door to ask her to vote for her husband! www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

A post that’s so eye-opening because this is exactly what liberals will say is GOP distraction tactics, almost as a parody— and here it really is what Gaetz is saying unironically as his GOP message.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

We get a very rare poll of Alaska, from the AARP folks. May Peltola leads Senator Sullivan 53/47 in the final round of RCV. See below for the poll + simulation they did: www.aarp.org/content/dam/...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"Mr. Collins was present in the room but conspicuously absent from the slide."

"At a donor meeting last week in Dallas held by Senate Republican strategists, one presentation slide noted four of the party’s “quality” Senate recruits: Representative Ashley Hinson in Iowa, Michael Whatley in North Carolina, former Representative Mike Rogers in Michigan and former Senator John E. Sununu in New Hampshire, according to an attendee who took a picture of the slide.

Mr. Collins was present in the room but conspicuously absent from the slide."

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Senator Cornyn walks right up the line of endorsing Jon Rosenthal over Bo French in Texas. (French is the Republican who tweeted the racist post about UT students this weekend, and has a long history of Islamophobia & antisemitism. Rosenthal is his Dem opponent.)

Senator Cornyn posts and quotes from an oped by Karl Rove in which Rove says he will vote for a Democrat.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This is all still true boltsmag.org/mail-voting-...

“First: USPS no longer automatically postmarks mail on the day it is received. Instead, they postmark it when they process it, sometimes after it has traveled hundreds of miles to a central facility, which can take days.

This matters greatly in states that require mail ballots or voter registration forms to be postmarked by a certain day to be valid, as Bolts explained earlier this year. If voters mail their ballots or forms close to the deadline, USPS may not postmark them in time; the ballots would then get tossed by election officials.

There’s evidence from primaries held this year that the change is having an impact; election offices are reporting a marked increase in ballots that are rejected because their postmark is late. In Yakima County, Washington, for instance, roughly 5 percent of mail ballots cast for the Aug. 4 primary were rejected this summer, up from 1 percent between 2016 and 2024.

Michelle Kanter Cohen, policy director and senior counsel for the Fair Elections Center, is afraid that voters are not aware of this issue. “People have generally assumed that when you put your mail in the official blue box, that it will be postmarked that day,” she said. “But it is clear from this rule that this is no longer the case.””

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It's election day Tuesday in Delaware! On the menu, mostly: —Dems' AG primary —progressive challengers to Dem lawmakers, fueled by anger over corporate bill championed by Musk & others Also bonus elections in NJ to unlock millions in some school districts. Details: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Seven months from the French presidential election, the only thing that seems virtually certain is that the far-right will have one of the two runoff spots. This is just one of the many hypotheses tested today of who else is even running, though arguably the likeliest field imo at this moment.

Poll of the first round of the French presidential election by Ipsos for le monde

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

A post has created a ton of online discourse in Texas today, including some GOP officials condemning it. It’s from Bo French, GOP nominee in a statewide race in TX (Railroad Commissioner, which deals with oil & energy). Picture shows nonwhite students cheering; I didn’t want to share full photo.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

today in checking out what school board candidates are up to: this conservative running in a swing-y county of Maryland who checked out 20+ LGBTQ-themed books from public libraries so others can't access them www.wmar2news.com/news/local-n...

"FREDERICK COUNTY, Md — A Frederick County Board of Education candidate checked out nearly 20 LBGTQ+ books that were on display at the Brunswick Public Library."

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

We’ll know more soon, but here’s Rick Hasen on the latest from Missouri: electionlawblog.org/2026/and-bre...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The lead alone, of the WSJ article on Fetterman www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

"One morning in June, three paralyzed military veterans in wheelchairs from rural Pennsylvania arrived at the office of Sen. John Fetterman for a long-awaited meeting to discuss legislation that would improve their care.

Fetterman’s staff greeted them with bad news: The Pennsylvania Democrat had to cancel. He’d told his staff he may have eaten something bad and wasn’t feeling well, according to people familiar with the matter.

Less than an hour after his staffers met with the veterans in his place, Fetterman walked into his office, showing no signs of illness. He had an appointment he didn’t want to miss, he told staff: an interview on Fox News to discuss Israel and the war in Iran. "

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

For what it's worth, one of the justices is on the ballot this fall for an up-or-down retention election. I wrote about this here. boltsmag.org/your-state-b...

"Justice Paul Wilson, a 2012 appointee of Democratic Governor Jay Nixon, is running for retention.

In a series of recent cases, Wilson has sided with the court’s more liberal faction. In March, he wrote the dissent when the court said Missouri Republicans acted legally when they drew new congressional districts mid-decade. Wilson argued this could only be done once a decade.

In 2024, he authored the majority opinion when the court decided, on a 4-3 vote, that a ballot measure protecting abortion rights should be placed on the ballot. He also wrote a 2024 ruling that struck down a state constitutional amendment that had required Kansas City to spend more money on police; state Republicans responded by passing a redo amendment. And in 2025, he dissented from a court ruling that denied a transgender student’s claims of discrimination.

Wilson easily secured retention the last time he was on the ballot, in 2014, with 63 percent of the vote. In the 12 years since, no justice has even dipped below 60 percent."

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

the attention to Flock has exploded in recent weeks in April, bolts published an article on the length that a Wisconsin town went through to get Flock to take down its cameras — including covering them in trash bags. what the mayor told us:

"“The fact that they didn’t take the cameras down shows that we are the product,” Diaz said. “They were never really selling to us in the first place. What they are doing is selling to much bigger agencies the ability to spy on a ton of people.”"

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

If you're looking for a glance at what happened tonight... ... check out Bolts' guide, updated with results in now-17 races up and down the ballot! boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

This was one of the key elections I was watching today — on my guide: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

boltsmag.org/mail-voting-...

"The order has been blocked by courts for months, and it remains blocked for now, but USPS last week released a 95-page rule that outlines how it intends to implement Trump’s directive.

The most intrusive requirement is for states to prepare lists of voters who are eligible to vote by mail and send the lists to the federal government.

The rule says USPS will only deliver mail ballots to people on that list. It also says it will only deliver ballots with envelopes that meet criteria set out by the federal government.

USPS says it will refuse to deliver mail ballots to voters in states that do not comply with the order and do not share lists with the federal government."

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Some of this goes into that. boltsmag.org/mail-voting-...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

This waaay predates the current administration. Flashback from the governor's race in Colorado 16 years ago. westword.com/news/denver-...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

A busy election day Tuesday in Massachusetts. Besides Markey-Moulton, there are DA races & many legislative primaries between the left and the center (including against incumbent Dems who opposed the summer's abortion law). Oh, and a data center recall in MO. Explore: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

The most eye-popping part of the new EPIC-MRA poll of Michigan, which has Dems leading by an identical 4 points in the Gov and Sen races: Rogers has a disastrous fave rating (29/40), perhaps a leftover of the 2024 Senate race he lost. El-Sayed & Benson are +1, & James is -5.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

One of the more gerrymandered bodies that people don't think about — New Hampshire's executive council. In 2022, Dems won a majority across the 5 districts but just one of the 5 seats.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Delaware is happening on September 15 — so you can find it in the legislative elections there. boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

@rickhasen.bsky.social on the "disgusting gall" of the timing game the federal government is playing to restrict mail voting — first saying that its' too premature to rule against Trump, running out the clock, and now saying it's too late. electionlawblog.org/2026/in-temp...

"This should be the end of the matter, but it’s important to point out the disgusting gall of the United States in its timing arguments. For months the US argued that it was premature to seek relief because USPS and DHS had not yet issued their final rules. USPS waited until just weeks before ballots go out to put out their final rule, and even today they have no timetable for getting the portal up for states to submit the required information. And yet…..now the government has the chutzpah to argue that the relief comes too late."

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

A non-sensical paragraph explaining the latest in the mail-in lawsuit (non-sensical because of SCOTUS, not because of the article). Why? By time SCOTUS ruled on Monday that USPS did not yet have a rule, USPS had issued a rule the prior Friday. SCOTUS, of course, didn't bother changing its draft.

"She wrote that while the Supreme Court had “admonished” her on Monday that the Postal Service had not finalized any changes when the groups sued initially, making court action premature, the stakes had changed since then because of the step the agency took Friday to formalize its plan."

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Folks, this is the final stretch of our call for questions: The Census is already in turmoil with Trump's latest efforts. A scholar who studied the 2020 Census & talked to many Census workers has published a book... & she agreed to answer your questions on her work! What do you want to know?

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

we're gotten thru a lot together this year and are ALMOST at the big one...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Alaska Beacon interviews David Leslie, the Dem candidate who is in 4th position in the Alaska Senate count right now and so would move into the general election alongside Peltola and both Sullivans. Sullivan is against dropping out by 8/31, but doesn't close door. alaskabeacon.com/2026/08/24/a...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

We were watching four elections today—you can now catch up on all the results in our guide! boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

No AP call yet, but with nearly all ballots counted, Trump’s guy in the governor race in Oklahoma is clinging to a small lead.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

We have a result in this race. Taylor, who wanted to bring theocracy to Oklahoma schools, has lost in the GOP primary.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

We're watching FOUR elections tomorrow at Bolts. Not the busiest day of the year, all four of those are still important. Details here: boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

As @rickhasen.bsky.social just wrote: electionlawblog.org/2026/breakin...

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