News from around the nation.

Wisconsin voting advocates say turnout is the answer to election doubts; naturalization processing delays stifle some eligible midterm voters, a convoy challenges Congress to stop funding foreign wars.

Transcript

The Public News Service Tuesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

As some folks in Wisconsin head to the polls today, voting rights advocates are making a last-minute push to ensure concerns about federal election interference don't keep others from casting their ballots.

Amid heightened federal involvement and legal challenges in election monitoring at polling places, groups like the League of Women Voters are reassuring residents their votes matter and longstanding safeguards are in place to ensure ballots are counted as intended.

Jeanette Senegal, who works with the league, notes federal election observers are not new and their presence doesn't necessarily mean something will go wrong.

But the narratives that are being created are casting doubt on things and we want people to know that the solution to the doubt is overwhelming turnout.

Senegal says people should make a plan to vote today if they haven't yet and avoid peak hours when lines are longest.

Voters can find their polling location, check registration, and find other election day information at myvote.wi.gov.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

Meantime, federal data show a dramatic slowdown in naturalization approvals ahead of today's midterm elections, leaving hundreds of thousands of potential voters in New England and across the U.S. in limbo.

Application approvals through the first eight months of this year are down more than 70 percent compared to the same period last year.

Lucia Martel-Dao with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center says some people fear they may be targeted for deportation if they even apply.

People may have no reason why not apply for naturalization, but seeing what is happening in their neighborhoods or people that they know may definitely make them think twice of whether this is the right time to apply or they want to sit it out.

Last month, the Department of Homeland Security social media post celebrated the decline in naturalization approvals and increased deportations as part of its mandate for re-migration, a far-right term used for the removal of non-white immigrants.

I'm Catherine Carley.

At a convoy of some dozen RVs recently traveled across 17 states, including Colorado, collecting signatures for a petition calling on the Congress to end taxpayer funding that contributes to Palestinian suffering.

USA Today Freedom Convoy co-organizer Hazami Bamada says it's time for elected representatives to put American communities first.

While so many Americans are struggling with basic costs of living, we are asking them to demand of their elected officials to invest here into America and not into endless wars on behalf of Israel.

In 2025 alone, the U.S. government sent $12 billion to Israel for military operations.

According to calculations by the group Not My Tax Dollars, that's enough money to cover a year's worth of groceries for two million American families and rent for more than 622,000 households.

This is Public News Service.

As Hoosiers head to the polls on Election Day, one group that has traditionally stayed away from politics could play a growing role in Indiana elections.

Our Joe Ulori explains.

Republican State Representative Joanna King of Middlebury grew up Amish and says many in the community have long believed their influence should come through prayer, not the ballot box.

They really feel like their influence can be praying for the people that are elected, praying for their government, praying for the people that are making decisions in their community, and really having that complete separation of church and state.

King says that attitude is beginning to change in some Amish communities.

She and other Republican officials in northern Indiana have been encouraging Amish residents to register and vote.

Supporters say voting gives those communities more say in decisions involving religious freedom and local government.

But some local leaders warn that pushing too hard could backfire because individual Amish churches and bishops take different positions on political participation.

This story was produced with original reporting from Carson Gerber for FPI News.

And immigrants detained by ICE in New York and nationwide are having a harder time getting bonds for their release.

The Envision Freedom Fund report finds six times more people are being detained since President Donald Trump returned to office.

The number of releases has dropped from 39 to 5 percent.

Ben McCubrey with Envision Freedom Fund notes immigration bond policy changes are more complicated and the legal processes to be released are becoming more difficult.

ICE and immigration judges will only grant a bond if they're forced to by a federal meaning releases require taking the case to federal court, which is entirely separate legal proceedings for a claim of habeas corpus.

So you need to win a claim of habeas corpus in federal court, and then you need to win a bond hearing in immigration court.

With some exceptions, most people now have to clear these hurdles to get out of detention.

Even if a person wins a bond, the report notes judges are setting higher bonds.

The report finds the average cost of immigration bonds is a little more than $14,000.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

Finally, as the world becomes more digitized, programs to support older Oregonians to build online skills are expanding to fill the growing need.

Oregon nonprofit Age Plus is growing their digital literacy program to help older adults to learn how to do everything from ordering groceries to booking health care appointments.

Olivia Robinson with Age Plus says almost everything that keeps people healthy and connected has already moved online.

Health care, transportation, a lot of social connection, prescription refills.

And if someone doesn't know how to access a portal or even use a mouse or a keyboard, then care gets harder to reach.

Robinson points to research from AARP showing 22 million Americans over 65 don't have broadband at home.

Funding for the effort comes from the State Library of Oregon.

This is Mike Clifford from Public News Service.

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