National: State and local election officials plead with Congress for election security funding | Derek B. Johnson/CyberScoop

As the Trump administration takes a hatchet to the federal government’s election security work and attempts to place conditions on funding to states, state and local election officials are pleading with lawmakers to provide robust support they say is crucial to keeping American elections secure. In a letter sent to leaders on the House and Senate Appropriations committees this week, 150 active and retired officials from across the country asked Congress to set aside $400 million next fiscal year for election security grant funding under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). “The federal government shares with state and local governments the responsibility to overcome funding shortfalls in the most essential charge our government carries: to ensure safe, secure, and effective elections,” the officials wrote. “Yet, Congress has recently provided inconsistent and insufficient funding to meet these requirements.” Read Article

Pennsylvania Democrats pass sweeping election overhaul through the House, but skip GOP-priority voter ID | Carter Walker and Stephen Caruso/Spotlight PA and Votebeat

A sweeping bill to overhaul the commonwealth’s election laws has passed the Pennsylvania House. Its changes would include creating in-person early voting, giving counties more time to process mail ballots, and requiring counties to use mail ballot drop boxes. But it doesn’t include one provision that will likely be important to its prospects: a voter ID requirement, something that Republicans, who control the state Senate, have always seen as crucial to any election law deal. State House leaders in both parties have lately said they are open to a voter ID requirement after years of partisan fights. The chamber even advanced a standalone bill, sponsored by two swing-district lawmakers, that would create a lenient voter ID requirement for all in-person voters. Read Article

Texas Legislature approves bill to ease polling place requirements for countywide voting | Natalia Contreras/The Texas Tribune

Both chambers of the Texas Legislature have passed a bill intended to roll back a 2023 law that required certain counties to drastically increase the number of polling locations — even in areas where buildings were scarce and funding wasn’t available to fully equip them. The bill is now headed to the governor’s desk and set to become law. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, championed the bill, and it was supported by the Texas Association of Election Officials and the Texas Association of County and District Clerks. Read Article