Tag: elections

Colombia to the Right? Anti-Crime Outsider Crushes Election Expectations.

Up until 2022, Colombia had never had a left-wing president, at least not in modern history. But, for some reason, it tried to experiment with one between 2022 and 2026. Not only did they vote in a leftist, but they voted in a corrupt socialist clown. Four years of Gustavo Petro was, apparently, enough. 

As I wrote on Friday, the Colombian presidential elections were held on Sunday, May 31, and it was down to three candidates:  

On the left, you have Petro’s hand-picked candidate, senator, and human rights activist Iván Cepeda. He’ll be more of the same: heavy spending on social programs and pointless peace talks with gangs and guerrillas that go nowhere, instead of actually cracking down on crime. He’s leading in the polls right now, anywhere from 35 to 42%, depending on which poll you believe. 

But don’t panic. One reason why he’s leading in the polls is that the right is split between Abelardo de la Espriella, aka “El Tigre,” and Paloma Valencia. El Tigre is the outsider, a bombastic lawyer who has a little Trump and a little Nayib Bukele in him. He’s promising mega-prisons to deal with the criminal groups that plague the country and a crackdown on drugs and crime. And he’s gaining a lot of enthusiasm right now. Most of the emails I receive from Colombians want him to win. 

Valencia, a center-right senator, is more of an establishment conservative. She’s a big Petro critic and campaigns on stabilizing the country’s economy and restoring security. 

Valencia actually won the nomination as the right-wing candidate in the country’s primaries earlier this year. Cepeda was the left-wing winner. El Tigre (“The Tiger”) had to kind of do things on his own. And boy, did he. Even as I wrote about the election on Friday, he was not projected to perform as well as he did on Sunday. 

I should have know better — I’ve receive so many emails from Colombians over the last few months telling me that he was their guy.  

Going into, it looked like Cepeda would receive the most votes, and that the rest would be split between de la Espriella and Valencia, but de la Espriella actually came out on top with about a 3%-ish lead. 

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Mexico’s Congress Moves to Cancel Future Elections – If Ruling Party Loses

Mexico’s Congress is moving to amend the country’s constitution to ensure the ruling party remains in power. The move comes at a time when the U.S. government has been exposing the close ties between Mexico’s ruling party, MORENA, and drug cartels while moving to arrest some of its top operators.

This week, Mexico’s congress moved to change the law to allow the government to cancel the 2030 elections if it claims there was foreign interference. The measure is hidden in obscure language and lacks specifics as to what could qualify as foreign interference, giving the government a wide range of reasons.

The issue faced strong resistance from legislators in opposing parties, who claimed it was just a way for the ruling party to stay in power. The move passed due to MORENA having majority control and is moving along the system.

The issue comes at a time of great tension between Mexico and the U.S. over a series of criminal indictments accusing top members of the MORENA party, including the governor of Sinaloa, of working with cartels in exchange for political power and money. Rather than working with the U.S. to arrest those officials, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has publicly defended him, claiming that the U.S. has provided no evidence of wrongdoing and that the move was political. The MORENA party has a long history of accusing the U.S. government of trying to influence its rule over Mexico, using the claim of national sovereignty to avoid going after cartel politicians.

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Why The SAVE Act Matters

American self-governance rests on one indispensable foundation: that elections reflect the will of eligible citizens, counted accurately, administered transparently. Republicans and election integrity advocates argue that this foundation has been progressively undermined – not necessarily by a single grand conspiracy, but by a systemic pattern of loosened safeguards, dirty voter rolls, exploitable mail-ballot systems, and aggressive Democrat opposition to the audits and reforms that would resolve public doubt once and for all.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act – which polls at roughly 80 percent public support – would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. To its advocates, it is the minimum logical response to documented vulnerabilities in the registration and voting system. To its opponents, it is voter suppression. The fight over that characterization is itself a revealing indicator of where the parties stand on the fundamental question: do you want to know, or don’t you? And why!

Let’s examine the subject in some detail.

Note: the below analysis was written from a Republican/election-integrity-advocate perspective. Where allegations are unconfirmed or contested, they are labeled as such.

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BIG WIN IN N CAROLINA: Court Reaffirms “Never Residents” Cannot Vote – While Michigan SOS Benson Continues to Defy Constitution–Allows Individuals To Vote That Never Lived in State

Why are U.S. citizens born overseas to parents eligible to vote in a state where they’ve never lived?

That’s a question every American should be asking their state lawmakers.

Another question Americans should be asking is why would any lawmaker or secretary of state would be in favor of someone voting in their state who’s never lived there? Isn’t voting supposed to be about choosing the candidate who will best represent the US citizen living in their community, state or federal government?

In a significant ruling just days ago, Special Superior Court Judge Hoyt Tessener delivered a major win for election integrity in North Carolina. The court sided with Republican groups who argued that “never resident” voters — individuals born overseas who have never lived in North Carolina — should not be allowed to vote in any elections in the Tar Heel State.

This latest decision builds directly on previous rulings by the North Carolina Supreme Court. In 2025, during the hotly contested Supreme Court race between Democrat Allison Riggs and Republican Jefferson Griffin, the NC Supreme Court ruled 4-2 that “never residents” are not eligible to vote in state and local elections under the North Carolina Constitution. The court made it clear: only actual residents of North Carolina can vote in North Carolina elections.

The new Superior Court ruling goes even further by addressing federal elections, closing the loophole that Benson-style election officials have been exploiting nationwide.

Michigan’s Parallel Fight To Keep Inelligible Voters Allegedly Living in Foreign Countries from Voting In State and Federal Elections

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Chicago-Area Democrat Alderwoman Arrested For Casting Ballot on Behalf of Her Deceased Mother

A Chicago-area Alderwoman was arrested for casting a ballot for her deceased mother.

Waukegan Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton was arrested and charged with a felony after she voted on behalf of her deceased mother.

Prosecutors say Bolton, 67, filled out a mail-in ballot for her mother, Mary Sims, who passed away on January 12.

The clerk’s office issued Sims a mail-in ballot on February 5, three weeks after she passed away.

The mail-in ballot was filled out and returned on February 26.

“Our system of checks and balances worked as intended,” County Clerk Anthony Vega told the Chicago Tribune.

“Our staff followed established protocols. They identified the irregularities, and our office coordinated with our law enforcement partners. This is exceedingly rare, but if someone games the system, we will hold them accountable,” he added.

The Chicago Tribune reported:

Waukegan Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton, 1st Ward, is facing a felony charge after, authorities say, she falsified election material in the March primary contest by casting a ballot on behalf of her dead mother.

Bolton, 67, was charged with felony mutilation of election material and disregarding the election code, a misdemeanor, on May 19, and appeared Wednesday in Lake County Court in Waukegan.

Though the irregularity was discovered on Feb. 26 by the Lake County Clerk’s Office, the investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office did not start until March 27 — 10 days after the March 17 primary election — when the clerk’s office confirmed it.

After the clerk’s office issued a vote-by-mail ballot to Mary Sims on Feb. 5, the office cancelled Sims’ voter registration after learning of her death on Feb. 12 from the Illinois Department of Public Health through the Illinois State Board of Elections voter registration system, according to a joint news release from the offices of the county clerk, sheriff and state’s attorney.

Sims died on Jan. 12 and is Bolton’s mother, according to Richard Bradshaw, a licensed funeral director with Bradshaw and Range Funeral Home in Waukegan.

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Formal Complaint Filed with Texas Secretary of State Challenging Federal Voting Law Compliance

Jeffrey Yuna of Harris County, former candidate for the 38th Congressional District, and Debra Boehm, a voter in Collin County have submitted a formal HAVA complaint with the Texas Secretary of State (SOS), the Hon. Jane Nelson, who is the State’s Chief Election Administrator.

The complaint, supported by Unite4Freedom evidence, seeks a hearing on the record under the longstanding Federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) (§ 402, 52 U.S.C. § 21112, and 1 Tex. Admin. Code § 81.171) to determine whether Texas is complying with HAVA § 303 in its administration of federal elections.

The complainants are not asking to overturn, contest, or alter any election result. Instead, they seek a record-based HAVA determination concerning Texas’s statewide voter registration list, voter history records, participation records, official-source reconciliation; preservation of source records; and future federal-election compliance.

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HAVA Requirements

HAVA § 303 requires Texas to implement and maintain a “single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list” that “shall serve as the official voter registration list for the conduct of all elections for Federal office in the State.” This complaint alleges a HAVA Title III violation that has occurred, is occurring, and is about to occur again unless corrected before the next federal election.

This Complaint asks four binary questions about the official Texas record of a single federal election:

  1. Do the State’s four official counts of voter participation reconcile?
  2. Is there documented administrative records showing how they reconcile?
  3. Can the State identify the number that was certified and the source system that produced it?
  4. Can the State produce the record-chain proof of how the certified number was derived and how it relates to the “single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list”?

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Calif.: Newsom signs bill limiting law enforcement access to ballots

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation to tighten California’s election security, limiting authorities’ access to ballots, voter lists, rosters, or certified voting technology, ahead of the June 2nd state primary election.

The bill signed on Wednesday would prohibit anyone — particularly federal officers — from becoming involved in election administration, while allowing exceptions in cases of urgent public health or safety concerns.

Furthermore, the law states that if packages containing voted ballots are removed from the custody of election officials, civil penalties for ballot custody violations may still apply, with fines of up to $50,000.

“We have to clarify the rules of engagement. That’s why this legislation is important. There are fines associated with it, criminal fines, and jail time, three years,” Newsom (D-Calif.) said at Wednesday’s signing ceremony.

Senate Bill 73 — which will take effect immediately — follows Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s seizure of 650,000 ballots from last fall’s Proposition 50 Special Election. However, the probe was later stopped due to legal challenges from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Sheriff Bianco (R-Calif.) — who is running for California governor this November — said he seized the ballots as part of an investigation into alleged voting discrepancies, though election officials later disputed those claims.

Bianco had referred to the freezing of the investigation as “politically motivated.”

Meanwhile the measure also directs the attorney general to provide guidance to local election workers on responding to requests from law enforcement.

“SB73 puts in protections to ensure that ballots will be secured and that voters have confidence in our election system that their voices will be heard at the ballot box,” said California State Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Calif.), one of the primary authors of the law.

The signing of the bill came the same day Assembly Democrats advanced 23 separate bills related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the Assembly floor.

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Louisiana House Approves New Congressional Map that Eliminates Racially Gerrymandered District

The Louisiana House on Thursday approved a new Congressional map that eliminates a racially gerrymandered district, sending the bill to the Senate.

Louisiana delayed its House primaries late last month after a blockbuster Supreme Court ruling on a key Voting Rights Act provision.

The Supreme Court recently declared Louisiana’s previous Congressional map an unconstitutional gerrymander.

The high court issued the ruling 6-3.

Liberal justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson dissented.

The case, State of Louisiana v. Phillip Callais (and the related Press Robinson v. Phillip Callais), stems from Louisiana’s woke lawmakers caving to left-wing judges and creating a second “majority-minority” congressional district.

The Louisiana House voted 66-35 to approve the new map.

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Arizona Attorney General Tells Maricopa Supervisors To Ignore Recorder’s Elections Authority

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes advised the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to ignore Recorder Justin Heap’s claim of exclusive authority on drop box establishment. 

Mayes sent a letter to the board and Heap on Friday claiming Heap’s counsel had made “unfounded threats of criminal liability” for telling the board that they would face felony charges for managing ballot drop boxes. 

Mayes cited the state’s current and past two Elections Procedures Manuals (EPMs) to back her assessment. The EPMs recognized that boards of supervisors or their designees approve all ballot drop-off locations and drop-boxes. 

“Justin Heap is wrong about drop boxes,” said Mayes. “He should immediately work with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in good faith to ensure a well run [sic] election.” 

Notice from Heap’s counsel closely preceded a vote taken by the board earlier this week to designate 12 drop box locations throughout the county for the upcoming primary election in July. These drop boxes are scheduled to become active at the end of June. 

Heap claimed the board never consulted him about the proposed drop box locations. 

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NC court rules state violated law by allowing nonresidents to vote in federal elections

The Republican National Committee celebrated a recent court ruling Wednesday that determined the North Carolina state board of elections violated the state constitution by allowing non-residents to vote in federal elections.

The Wake County Superior Court sided with the RNC in the ruling Tuesday after the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled last year that people who have never lived in the state cannot vote in state elections. 

The state stopped nonresidents from voting in state elections in the wake of the state Supreme Court ruling, but did not change its policies when it came to federal elections.

“This is a clear win for fair and lawful elections,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in a statement. “The court upheld the North Carolina Constitution and made clear that only North Carolina residents can vote in the state. The RNC will keep fighting to ensure only eligible citizens can vote.”

The court’s ruling does not impact voters who qualify under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, which applies to U.S. citizens who previously lived in a state and are currently serving overseas.

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