Students and their families incur substantial costs from attending college. In recent years, loans to students and their parents are being used to cover much of this cost, leaving substantial debts to be repaid on graduation. The magnitude of these costs has led to call for some of all of this debt to be forgiven by the federal government. What is the logic of debt forgiveness, and what are the specifics of forgiveness proposals?

America’s elections are administered locally by tens of thousands of government employees and citizen-volunteers. This decentralized process sometimes makes people worry about the possibility of fraud. If there is so much leeway for state and local election boards to select people, and administer rules and procedures, to what degree can Americans trust the process?

Voter ID laws are described by their supporters as a way to ensure that only eligible citizens cast votes. Opponents see these laws as a barrier to voting. This brief answers several questions, including: Which states have ID laws? What kinds of people lack a photo ID? Do states without voter ID laws have higher documented rates of voter fraud?