By Jill Nolin | Editor
“These were people who were enslaved in a lot of cases, and now are lawmakers. So it’s kind of a testimony to what is possible in America, but also how quickly that can be taken away through violence, terrorism and through just not caring about our fellow citizens.” - John Alston III, an African American history researcher at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, referring to Georgia’s Reconstruction-era Black lawmakers who were expelled from office.
Georgia's ballot scanners, manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems, currently calculate election results based on a QR code. But under a 2024 state law, QR codes can no longer be used to count ballots after July 1. Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder
COMMENTARY
By Jay Bookman
The last thing Georgia needs in the 2026 midterms is more election-related chaos, more court fights and allegations of election theft, more distrust and more conspiracy-driven nonsense. Such nonsense is breaking our country apart.
Yet, whether through incompetence or design, that’s exactly where we appear to be headed.
There is currently a monument paying tribute to Georgia's Reconstruction-era Black lawmakers sitting on the state Capitol lawn, but a new tribute is the works for inside the state the state Capitol. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
GEORGIA HISTORY
By Zoe Christopher
More than 150 years after they were expelled from the Legislature, Georgia’s first Black lawmakers, known as the Original 33, are set to receive a permanent memorial in their name.
Buds of marijuana on display inside Mother Earth Wellness in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
DRUG POLICY
By Jacob Fischler
Medicinal marijuana products that are legal at the state level will see looser federal regulation under an order the U.S. Department of Justice published Thursday, while a process that could remove the drug in all forms from the federal list of the most dangerous drugs is set to begin in late June.
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Scott’s rivals take a break from politics after the longtime congressman’s death upends the election | Alander Rocha and Maya Homan
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