Hansi Lo Wang, Author at TPR: The Public's Radio

In response to U.S. Postal Service changes, California state officials are urging mail-in voters for a special election on congressional redistricting to return their ballots before Election Day to help ensure their ballots get postmarked by the deadline. Here, a post office in Montclair, Calif., is seen last year.

NPR

Your ballot or other mail may not get postmarked by USPS the day it’s dropped off

by Hansi Lo Wang October 23, 2025October 23, 2025

Close to a deadline for mailing your ballot, tax return or legal document? To make sure it gets a postmark on time under the latest USPS changes, you may want to send it early or visit a post office.

A Census Bureau worker knocks on the door of a home in Winter Park, Fla., in 2020.

NPR

A major census test begins recruiting workers as some warn about delays

by Hansi Lo Wang October 6, 2025October 6, 2025

The Census Bureau is looking for temporary workers to carry out next year’s major field test of the 2030 census in six states, as the national head count’s advocates raise concerns about preparations.

Election workers open and inspect mail-in ballot envelopes for Arizona’s 2024 general election inside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix.

NPR

A GOP push to restrict voting by overseas U.S. citizens continues before 2026 midterms

by Hansi Lo Wang October 1, 2025October 1, 2025

Republican officials are pushing for more voting restrictions on U.S. citizens who were born abroad and have never lived in the country, after unsuccessfully challenging their ballots in 2024.

A door knocker carries a U.S. Census Bureau messenger bag outside a home in Winter Park, Fla., in 2020.

NPR

The Census Bureau is now headed by a Trump official in an acting position

by Hansi Lo Wang September 19, 2025September 19, 2025

George Cook is the Trump administration’s new acting director of the Census Bureau, which has been thrust into the middle of a renewed attempt by President Trump to alter the national head count.

Howard Lutnick, who now oversees the Census Bureau as the commerce secretary, stands behind President Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., in February before his confirmation to Trump’s cabinet.

NPR

Trump official tells census workers Congress has final say over the count, not Trump

by Hansi Lo Wang August 12, 2025August 12, 2025

Days after the president’s call for a “new” census, the top official overseeing the Census Bureau told employees that Congress, not Trump, has final say over the tally, NPR has exclusively learned.

Demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in 2019 to protest the first Trump administration’s failed push to add a question about a person’s U.S. citizenship status to 2020 census forms.

NPR

Trump calls for U.S. census to exclude for the first time people with no legal status

by Hansi Lo Wang August 7, 2025August 7, 2025

Trump is calling for a “new” census that excludes people in the U.S. without legal status. The 14th Amendment requires the “whole number of persons in each state” in a key set of census results.

President Lyndon B. Johnson moves to shake hands with Martin Luther King Jr. while others look on after Johnson signed the federal Voting Rights Act into law at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 6, 1965.

NPR

60 years later, Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters face new threats

by Hansi Lo Wang August 6, 2025August 6, 2025

Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act became a landmark law against racial discrimination, legal challenges heading to the Supreme Court could curtail its remaining protections for minority voters.

A demonstrator holds an umbrella and a sign saying “STAND UP! PROTECT OUR VOTING RIGHTS” outside the U.S. Supreme Court in March in Washington, D.C.

NPR

Supreme Court keeps a pause for now on a ruling that weakens the Voting Rights Act

by Hansi Lo Wang July 24, 2025July 24, 2025

The Supreme Court has extended a pause, for now, on a lower court ruling that struck down a key tool for protecting minority voters under the Voting Rights Act in seven states.

Demonstrators walk in Selma, Ala., in March with a sign saying “UNITE TO FIGHT FOR VOTING RIGHTS” to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march that galvanized the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

NPR

Where the Voting Rights Act stands after the Supreme Court punts on a Louisiana case

by Hansi Lo Wang June 28, 2025June 28, 2025

The Supreme Court delayed ruling on a Louisiana congressional redistricting case that some legal experts say could end up further weakening protections against maps that dilute minority voters’ power.

A protester with a sign saying “HONK IF YOU WANT YOUR DATA BACK!!!” stands with other demonstrators outside of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s headquarters in February in Washington, D.C., to rally against the DOGE team set up by President Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk getting access to personal data about federal employees.

NPR

How DOGE’s push to amass data could hurt the reliability of future U.S. statistics

by Hansi Lo Wang June 4, 2025June 4, 2025

DOGE’s murky push to amass data at federal agencies could hurt the U.S. government’s ability to produce reliable census results, economic indicators and other statistics in the future, experts warn.