Ballot

AEC to recount votes in electorate of Narungga on Friday after Chantelle Thomas won the seat by just 58 votes at the March state electionFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne Nation’s claim to the seat of Narungga has hit a snag weeks after the South Australian election.Uncounted ballot papers were discovered on Thursday, forcing a recount in the Yorke Peninsula seat, which One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas won by just 58 votes. Continue reading...

Attorney general says court ruling against Chad Bianco ‘reins in the destabilizing actions of a rogue sheriff’The California supreme court on Wednesday ordered a county sheriff and gubernatorial candidate who seized more than half a million 2025 election ballots to pause his investigation into election fraud allegations while the judges review the legal challenge against it.The order came after the California attorney general, Rob Bonta, last month asked the court to step in, arguing the sheriff has no authority over election materials. A voting rights group is also challenging the ballot seizure. Continue reading...

Chad Bianco of Riverside county obtained warrants to seize ballots cast for state’s successful redistricting referendumSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA California sheriff’s decision to seize about 650,000 ballots based on specious allegations of fraud has raised considerable alarm bells that similar efforts to undermine confidence in the electoral system could materialize this fall.The episode underscores how sheriffs and other officials can transform shoddy claims about voter fraud into law enforcement actions. Executing a warrant to seize ballots disrupts the chain of custody that is critical to maintaining ballot integrity, and also plants the idea in the public’s mind that a crime has occurred. Continue reading...

• President Trump issued an executive order on March 31, 2026, imposing new rules on mail-in ballots and requiring states to allow modifications to voter lists, marking a significant shift in election administration policy. • The order permits states to "routinely supplement and provide suggested modifications or amendments" to their mail voter lists, raising concerns about election integrity and voter access. • Election security advocates have raised concerns about the potential for voter confusion and administrative disruption, while the administration frames the measure as protecting election integrity.

President has falsely claimed ‘legendary’ fraud for limiting mail-in ballots and himself voted by mail last weekDonald Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to compile a national voter file and to restrict the use of mail-in ballots, an unprecedented move that is probably unconstitutional.The executive order directs the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Social Security Administration to compile a list of verified US citizens who can vote in every state. It also directs the United States Postal Service (USPS) to begin rule-making on a process that would require states to notify the agency of voters who intend to receive a mail-in ballot and prohibit them from receiving one unless they are on a USPS-approved list of eligible voters. Continue reading...

Union says there has been ‘far too little progress’ in talks over pay and career developmentUK politics live – latest updatesSenior doctors in England are to be balloted over the prospect of strikes, the British Medical Association has announced.The union said that simultaneous ballots of consultants and specialist, associate specialist, and speciality (SAS) doctors would run from 11 May to 6 July as both sets of medics escalate their disputes with the government. Continue reading...

Chad Bianco, running for governor, previously confiscated 650,000 ballots for baseless voter fraud investigationSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA Republican sheriff in California has confiscated additional ballot materials from a special election, escalating his conflict with state lawmakers who say he is conducting a baseless investigation into claims of voter fraud.On Tuesday, Chad Bianco, the Riverside county sheriff who is running for governor, was already at the center of a legal controversy after seizing 650,000 ballots from last year’s special election. Earlier this week he ordered his office to seize 426 additional boxes of ballot materials as part of the alleged criminal investigation, prompting criticism from lawmakers including Rob Bonta, California’s Democratic attorney general. Continue reading...

Lawyers say agency made misrepresentations in affidavit to obtain search warrant for January raid of election officesLawyers arguing in federal court for the FBI to return Fulton county’s 2020 election records said the agency’s affidavit to obtain a search warrant relied on misrepresentations that rise to the legal standard of a “callous disregard” for the county’s rights.“The only element that turns the election into a crime is intent, and nothing in the affidavit shows intent,” Abbe Lowell, who is representing Fulton county, said during the Friday hearing at the Richard Russell courthouse in Atlanta. He argued that the FBI is pursuing crimes for which the statute of limitations has expired. Continue reading...

Riverside county sheriff had last month seized more than 650,000 ballots cast in the state’s November special electionCalifornia’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, is seeking a court order to stop the Riverside county sheriff’s department from continuing its recount of ballots from the November 2025 special election.The LA Times reports that Bonta filed a petition with the fourth appellate district on Monday, writing that “the Sheriff’s misguided investigation threatens to sow distrust and jeopardize public confidence” in upcoming elections. Continue reading...

President called practice ‘mail-in cheating’ at Monday event after voting in Florida House race via mail on SaturdayUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailDonald Trump has described voting by mail as “cheating” at an event in Memphis, Tennessee, just two days after casting a mail‑in ballot himself.“Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating. I call it mail-in cheating, and we got to do something about it all,” the US president said on Monday, in remarks to a roundtable on his administration’s crime taskforce. Continue reading...

Case focuses on RNC’s challenge to a Mississippi law that allows ballots to count if they are arrive after election dayUS politics live – latest updatesThe US supreme court is hearing arguments Monday about whether mail-in ballots can be counted if they arrive after election day, which would affect laws in more than a dozen states during a midterm election year.The justice are considering Watson v Republican National Committee, a challenge over a Mississippi state law that was brought in 2024 by the Republican party. Mississippi allows mailed ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of election day, so long as they were postmarked by election day. Fourteen states, Washington DC and three US territories have similar laws that allow for late-arriving ballots to be counted. Continue reading...

Republican Chad Bianco investigating Prop 50 vote despite officials denying claims of ballots being cast unlawfullyA California sheriff who is running as a Republican for governor has seized more than 650,000 ballots from last year’s election, escalating an ongoing conflict with state officials.Chad Bianco, Riverside county’s sheriff, says he is carrying out an investigation into allegations that ballots were unlawfully cast in last year’s election that resulted in the passage of Proposition 50. The proposition redrew congressional districts to help gerrymander the state in favor of Democrats, in response to similar measures in Republican states like Texas. Continue reading...

• The California Medical Association strongly opposes a proposed statewide ballot initiative that would strip billions of dollars from vital community health centers. • The measure threatens funding for essential services provided by health clinics serving underserved populations across California. • CMA urges physicians and stakeholders to mobilize against the 'dangerous' proposal to protect community health infrastructure.