Free Republic

Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre (1823-1915) was a fiercely independent thinker who had a slavish drive for scientific truth. He was what you’d call an autodidact – a self-educated man who picked his own path to becoming a physicist, a chemist, a botanist, and an etymologist. In a thinking man’s way, he questioned ideas like the paradox of Buridan’s Ass, a concept oft quoted in the schools of his day to illustrate the ironies of free will. One version of the paradox went like this: If you take a donkey that is equally starved and equally thirsty and sit him between water...

Ohio voters could decide in November whether they want to enshrine its photo ID law into the state constitution. A new poll suggests the voter verification protection is very popular in the Buckeye State — as it is throughout the country. Last week, Ohio’s Republican-controlled state Senate easily passed (22-9) a joint resolution that would send a constitutional amendment ballot question to voters. Every Democrat voted against the measure. The resolution now moves to the GOP-led House, where it must pass with a three-fifths majority. Republicans have the votes, but some conservatives want to see photo ID for absentee ballots...

In the November 2024 election, an overwhelming majority of voters in Washington, D.C. voted to pass Initiative 83 (I-83), which introduced ranked choice voting and semi-open primaries for elections in the District of Columbia. Campaign Legal Center, on behalf of our clients who proposed and supported I-83, has successfully defended the will of the voters in court against baseless claims that I-83 is unlawful. Ranked choice voting (also known as RCV) will be used for the first time in the District's history in primary and special elections this month. What is Initiative 83? Spearheaded by Campaign Legal Center’s clients in...

The Texas Democrat nominee for the US Senate James Talarico complains that "state laws limiting voting to citizens who must have valid IDs severely deters the voters I want to represent. I believe that every human has an inalienable right to choose those who will rule over him or her. This includes the huddled masses that have trekked thousands of miles to enter our country. Some states recognize this right. California, for example expressly prohibits voter IDs because individuals who have made this trek are not citizens and don't have the kind of valid IDs Texas is requiring." Talarico criticized...

Republicans are running out of time to pass President Donald Trump’s agenda and tackle the affordability crisis as the midterm elections inch closer. With the midterms looming, Republicans have struggled to pass several policy agendas, including funding immigration enforcement, addressing affordability and adding voter identification requirements. Republicans are on a time crunch to address the hot-button issues for voters, including the economy and immigration, before they cast their ballots in November. The Senate has 53 days in session before November, while the House has about 40. A second reconciliation package aimed at funding immigration enforcement will not reach Trump’s desk...

A Republican-backed initiative has cleared the signature threshold for the November election. Critics say the measure could make it harder for people to vote. A Republican-backed proposal in California to create new voter identification requirements and citizenship audits is set to appear on the ballot in November, part of a nationwide G.O.P. push to tighten voting laws. The proposal would require voters to bring identification to the polls and provide an ID number when voting by mail. It would also require local officials to regularly check voter rolls to help ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered. The effort in...

A proposal that would require California to verify proof of citizenship when a person registers to vote — and require voters to provide identification at polling places — will appear on the November ballot, state officials announced Friday. The announcement comes amid a national debate over election security and what type of requirements voters should face to show they are qualified to cast a ballot. In Congress, Republicans are pushing a strict proof-of-citizenship proposal for residents to vote, encouraged by President Donald Trump. The California plan — also backed by Republicans — is being pitched as a common sense idea...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following months of urging from President Trump and the American people to pass the SAVE Act and secure the integrity of U.S. elections, the party that promised to save America announced that it wasn't really interested in saving America anymore. Republican leaders in the Senate held a press conference on Tuesday to officially set aside any plan to move forward with the SAVE Act, citing a waning desire to fulfill countless campaign promises to save the country. "We know we campaigned on saving the country, but honestly, we don't really care," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune....

California Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton joins Clay and Buck to discuss Eric Swalwell’s departure from the race, who he thinks inside the Democrat Party orchestrated the hit on Swalwell, and how he feels his campaign will deliver regime change in California.

“I am sick of serving in Congress with immoral freaks who abuse their office and bring dishonor to the institution.” —Rep Anna Paulina Luna You have entered the season of chaos. Better get used to it. The center quit holding a long time ago, and now even the margins are quivering. Buckle up and batten down. It will probably get rougher and weirder. Struggle is everywhere. Will Iran reopen Hormuz or not? They really only have days to stop playing games with the rest of the world. It will soon be clear whether they can negotiate in good faith. It...

The Obama Presidential Center is facing a wave of backlash ahead of its opening, with critics blasting its admission policies and raising broader concerns about the project’s cost and management. Conservative commentators on social media are taking aim at the center’s requirement that Illinois residents show valid identification to receive free admission on certain days, arguing it contrasts with Democratic opposition to voter ID laws. "They’re making you show ID… to visit the Obama Library… in Chicago. You can’t make this stuff up!" one social media user wrote. "The Obama Presidential Library is making people show an ID for proof...

What the video is about: The video covers a heated legal and political battle in Riverside County, California. Republican Sheriff Chad Bianco (who is running for governor in 2026) used a judge-approved search warrant to seize over 650,000 ballots from the 2025 special election on Proposition 50 (a redistricting measure). Key events: Bianco's team (Riverside Election Integrity Team) flagged major discrepancies — for example, more votes tallied than ballots cast in some cases (over 45,000 in one reported instance). He launched an investigation into potential voter fraud. California's Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta and other Democrats strongly opposed the move,...

Immerse yourself in 19th-century writings, and you will discover that Democrat slaveholders and segregationists considered themselves the “Negro’s best friend.” That supposed friendship, of course, required that the “Negro” play a role as grateful recipient of the condescending Democrat’s beneficence. That attitude continues to this day. For instance, in a clip posted to the social media platform X, Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures of Alabama, a black man, asked a group of nearly 100 attendees at a town hall meeting, most of them black, to raise their hands if they did not have an ID, only to discover that not one...

even years. That's how long Republicans in North Carolina waited for a federal court to do the right thing. On Thursday, they finally got their answer — and it came from the last place anyone expected. U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs, an Obama appointee, upheld North Carolina's photo voter ID law in a sweeping 134-page ruling. She found that liberal voting rights groups, including the state NAACP, failed to prove the 2018 law violated the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment, or the Voting Rights Act. The ruling keeps the law firmly in place heading into the 2026 midterms — and...

I’ve been admittedly skeptical that the current effort to pass the SAVE America Act will succeed. I want it to pass. Desperately. And from where I sit, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t pass. But we all know why something so popular and commonsense can’t get to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. Democrats in Congress don’t want election integrity and are fighting against it like their power is on the line. Despite my skepticism, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), the lead sponsor of the bill, is confident the SAVE America Act is going to pass — and after just...

Connecticut Democrats recently rushed through an emergency anti-fraud law requiring bottle redemption centers to collect a copy of a person’s driver’s license when they cash in more than 1,000 cans or bottles in a day — a document demand that Republicans say undercuts the party’s attacks on voter-ID rules. Earlier this month, an emergency certification bill, SB 299, was introduced by top Democratic leaders in the state's legislature. It was later passed in both chambers in late February and was signed by Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, on March 3. It requires people wishing to recycle cans for money to...

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling has dictated that police officers can demand ID when approaching individuals. The ruling states that officers are allowed to ask for physical identification if they feel an individual gives an unsatisfactory oral answer. AL.com reported how the decision ruled against a local pastor, who sued an Alabama town and its law enforcement office after a police encounter. The incident occurred in 2022, in which police arrested Pastor Michael Jennings after he watered his neighbor’s flowers. Another neighbor called the police on Jennings, citing that a “younger Black male” was on the property. While officers pressed...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to bring a Republican elections reform bill to the floor next week and kickstart a marathon debate that could potentially last days.

The latest poll of registered voters from NBC News found that President Trump was viewed less unfavorably than the two leading Democrats contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination. Trump's percentages were 41% positive to 53% negative for a net -12%. Gov. California Gavin Newsom's were 27% positive to 45% negative for a net -18%. Former Vice-President Kamala Harris' were 34% positive to 51% negative for a net of -17%. Comparisons for the Republican and Democrat Parties were similar. Voters rated Republicans as 37% positive to 51% negative for a net -14%. Democrats were rated 30% positive to 52% negative for...

Florida lawmakers are sending Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a strict elections bill modeled after the federal SAVE America Act strongly championed by President Donald Trump that mandates voters verify their citizenship when registering. Lawmakers in Tallahassee, Florida, in the GOP-dominated state House approved the measure in a 77–28 vote Thursday, hours after the bill passed the Republican-controlled state Senate 27–12. The votes in both houses of the Florida legislature were nearly entirely along party lines. DeSantis, a supporter of what he calls "the Florida version of the SAVE Act," is expected to sign the measure when it reaches his desk....