Democracy Docket
@democracydocket.com
Leading digital news and information platform covering voting rights, elections, and the courts — from an unapologetically pro-democracy standpoint. Newsletters: https://demdock.com/3T3Owjg Reporting: democracydocket.com Founded: @marcelias.bsky.social
In several red states, direct democracy itself is on the ballot this midterm. Voters will decide whether to protect their power to pass laws at the ballot box — or strip it away. Is this happening in YOUR state? Find out here ➡️ https://demdock.com/47JBcEF
Marc Elias has a prediction for the midterms: “If Democrats win, it is 100% certain that Donald Trump will say they were not honest.” Voting rules are being rewritten right now. Stay a step ahead: https://demdock.com/4yhBJbZ
NEW: “The core belief of the MAGA movement is we won the 2020 election,” Steve Bannon said on CBS' Sunday Morning News show. The interview is the latest evidence that Bannon and MAGA are committed to sowing as much chaos as needed to subvert democracy and disrupt the midterms.
Bannon: Election denial is ‘the core belief of the MAGA movement’
Bannon also said he's "the leader" of getting Trump to a third term, and was willing to do "whatever it takes" for the MAGA movement to win the midterms.
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NEW: DHS says it has “no plans” to buy more taxpayer-funded pro-Trump propaganda ads, but groups challenging the ads say that doesn’t cut it. They want a federal court to issue an immediate block on the ads.
DHS promise to stop Trump propaganda ads isn't enough, challengers argue
Other than vague promises, plaintiffs argue there’s nothing — besides the court-mandated pause they’re fighting for — stopping the Trump administration from buying more ads once its current contract…
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A GOP-led purge of Democratic voters is underway in New Jersey — and voters are fighting back in court. In one stark example, a Democratic voter received a “Gilmore Letter” questioning their eligibility to vote. Their Republican spouse did not: https://demdock.com/4yCxbOh
NEW: “The core belief of the MAGA movement is we won the 2020 election,” Steve Bannon said on CBS' Sunday Morning News show. The interview is the latest evidence that Bannon and MAGA are committed to sowing as much chaos as needed to subvert democracy and disrupt the midterms.
Steve Bannon on the GOP and the midterms: "We can't afford to lose"
A key figure in President Trump's 2016 campaign and a former White House adviser, Steve Bannon remains an outspoken champion of the MAGA movement, who believes a Republican victory in the midterms is…
cbsnews.com
NEW: DHS told a court it would stop buying taxpayer-funded ads for Trump after getting sued three separate times. The administration is still fighting a court order to block the ads, and a hearing is set for Tuesday. https://demdock.com/4s5c3hm
Trump propaganda ads funded by taxpayers to stop, DHS says
DHS did not directly address the legality of the ads, instead arguing the plaintiffs lacked standing and evidence of injury or harm because they aren’t competing “in the same arena” with Trump.
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⚠️ In a blow to mail voters, a Wisconsin judge won’t let people who fear Postal Service delays cast provisional ballots. With USPS pickup and delivery slowing significantly nationwide, voters whose ballots arrive too late could be disenfranchised through no fault of their own ⬇️
In blow to mail voters, Wisconsin judge won’t allow provisional ballots for people fearing Postal Service delays
Wisconsinites who vote by mail will effectively be disenfranchised if the U.S. Postal Service doesn’t deliver their ballot by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
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NEW: This week a judge ruled that not only does DOJ have no right to state voter data, it also is barred from using data it's already received from states. Also, we obtained a trove of documents shedding light on how ICE is helping Trump hunt for noncitizen voters.
This week at Democracy Docket: Trump’s voter roll scheme hits a major roadblock, and ICE’s role in voting crackdown revealed
A federal judge’s ruling may have just thrown President Donald Trump’s scheme to assert control over state voter rolls into turmoil.
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New Hampshire consistently has one of the largest college student populations per capita in the country. It also has some of the nation’s most restrictive voting laws — and students feel them most. Here’s what makes the Granite State so hostile to student voters: https://demdock.com/4zKPjWz
It’s one of the biggest questions looming over the midterms: Will ICE send agents to the polls? Records ICE turned over get tantalizingly close to an answer — until that answer is ultimately redacted. Here’s what we do know: https://demdock.com/3TOpzsI
Trump’s fixation on California isn’t just about mail-in voting, Marc Elias says. “California represents perhaps the greatest existential threat to Donald Trump in the midterm elections.” Want to know the full story? We’ll send it to your inbox for free: https://demdock.com/4rWJYbC
NEW: Democrats may be changing how they vote because of Trump’s nonstop mail voting attacks. New data suggest they're requesting mail ballots at a lower rate and sending them in faster than in years past.
Democrats shift voting habits amid Trump war on mail ballots, data finds
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) said her state saw a steep decrease in absentee ballot requests immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily lifted a block against Trump’s…
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🏛️ After SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act this year, Republicans launched an aggressive attack on Black voting power, write Carolyn Hugley and Lauren Groh-Wargo. The backlash points to a simple, undeniable fact: The South is America’s new political battleground ➡️ https://demdock.com/4ztr9zG
NEW: The RNC is rushing to defend restrictive mail ballot rules in North Carolina. The move comes after the state’s GOP-controlled election board took extraordinary steps to muscle the rules through in time for the midterms. https://demdock.com/4AUOziZ
RNC, state GOP rush to defend North Carolina's last-minute mail ballot restrictions
The rules would not have gone into effect for this election if the board had followed proper legislative procedure, Democrats say.
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NEW: The GOP is suing election officials in a key Michigan city, claiming they’re appointing more Democrats than Republicans as election inspectors. It's a sign that Republicans could seek to interfere with Michigan’s voting or counting process, as they did in 2020. https://demdock.com/3UkaTlp
Republicans sue for more poll watchers in key Michigan city
The effort could be a sign that the GOP plans to try to inject chaos into Michigan’s voting or counting process, as it did in 2020.
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WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK? 🏛️ DOJ was sued over plans to deploy election monitors for midterms 🗳️ Election deniers asked the Trump admin to regulate voting machines 🚨 Documents revealed ICE amassed millions of voter records Get updates delivered straight to your inbox: https://demdock.com/4hRDqGK
🤔 New records show Missouri made Trump’s DOJ an unusual offer: an in-person look at its unredacted voter rolls. It's the clearest explanation yet for why Missouri escaped the wave of DOJ lawsuits against states that refused to hand over private voter data ⬇️
Missouri offered to let DOJ inspect its unredacted voter rolls
The records provide the clearest explanation yet for why Missouri escaped the wave of lawsuits the DOJ has filed against 30 states that rejected its demands for private voter files.
democracydocket.com
Trump isn’t good at keeping secrets, Marc Elias says. “Donald Trump usually tells us exactly how he is going to try to subvert democracy.” Your vote is a target. Keep watch: https://demdock.com/3TOn1e8
📬 ICYMI: Republicans are pressing ahead with their effort to block a pro-voting policy in Georgia — just days before early voting begins. The RNC wants to restrict how voters turn in their mail-in ballots. And they want to do it in a county that is a major Democratic stronghold ⬇️
RNC renews bid to restrict mail ballot returns in major Georgia county
Republicans are pressing ahead with their effort to block the pro-voting policy just five days before early voting begins.
democracydocket.com
🎉 WIN: The DOJ demanded unredacted voter rolls from 49 states and D.C., seeking sensitive information such as addresses and Social Security numbers. Now, a judge has ruled the department doesn’t have a right to any of it — even the data states handed over voluntarily: https://demdock.com/4hCYiCO
🎙️WE'RE LIVE: Less than a month before the midterms… 🚨Election deniers are begging Trump to seize voting machines 🚨A judge shut down the DOJ’s voter data hunt 🚨ICE won’t say if agents will show up at the polls Marc Elias breaks it down now: https://demdock.com/3TNhkxg
BREAKING: Election Deniers Beg Trump to HIJACK Voting Machines
YouTube video by Democracy Docket
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‼️ Some of ICE’s election day plans are documented in a new Democracy Forward report, shared exclusively with Democracy Docket. DF says Americans are being left in the dark about what ICE plans to do as voters begin casting ballots. Here’s how they’re fighting back: https://demdock.com/4zhkjx0
NEW: Wisconsin Democrats sued the Trump administration for using $20 million in taxpayer funds to run TV ads seemingly created to boost GOP candidates in the midterms — an initiative the lawsuit argues is unlawful. The ads mark the administration's latest effort to unfairly influence the vote.
Trump’s taxpayer-funded propaganda ads draw third lawsuit
It’s the third lawsuit filed in response to the campaign-style ads, seemingly created to boost GOP candidates as the party registers historically low ratings.
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BREAKING: A federal judge allowed Republicans to defend North Carolina's last-minute restrictions on absentee voting, which could disqualify ballots over technicalities like an unsealed inner envelope. This comes as absentee voting for the midterms is already underway in the state.
A judge just dealt a massive blow to the Trump administration's crusade for state voter rolls. This ruling goes far beyond the dozens of state-by-state cases and invalidates the program on a national level. Want to support the work we do? Subscribe to our newsletter: https://demdock.com/4s2VxOU
NEW: Election denier Tina Peters reportedly discussed a scheme to wrestle control of the midterms from the states with the White House. But the dubious plan, which involves sweeping changes to voting machines and hand counts of ballots, rests on a little-used regulation that covers...WiFi routers.
Election deniers say an obscure rule on Wi-Fi routers means Trump can decide how votes are counted. Here’s why they’re wrong
"The Commerce secretary doesn't have more power than the president. The president has zero power over elections in the United States.”
democracydocket.com
NEW: A judge slammed the Trump administration for corrupting what has long been the DOJ's "crown jewel" — its Civil Rights Division. The ruling, which blocked the department's sweeping hunt for state voter data, rebuked its invocation of laws meant to safeguard minority voting rights.
Judge rebukes Trump administration for perverting pro-voting mission of DOJ’s ‘crown jewel’
Sooknanan traced the Civil Rights Division’s history from its creation under President Dwight Eisenhower to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1957, calling it the DOJ’s “crown jewel.”
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🚨BREAKING: A judge ruled the DOJ's policy of collecting states' unredacted voter rolls and urging them to remove voters flagged as ineligible is illegal. "This policy...has left untold numbers of disenfranchised voters in its wake and inflicted injuries to the Plaintiffs' privacy," the court wrote.
NEW: When Trump fired the independent commissioners of a key federal election agency in July, there was a resounding fear that the move would impact its critical election work before the midterms. Months later, the body has maintained much of its work to protect election security.
Despite Trump’s efforts to kneecap it, a key federal election agency is still at work
When President Donald Trump in July fired the independent commissioners responsible for assisting states with elections, experts feared the move would defang the federal agency. But since then, the U....
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