Trump Administration Pushes Limits of Election Investigations | Devlin Barrett/The New York Times

The administration is “throwing everything against the wall that they can find, and nothing is sticking,” said David Becker, a former voting rights lawyer at the Justice Department who is now the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research. “Almost all of their work is going back over conspiracy theorists’ allegations that were debunked five years ago,” he added. “They are running out of tools in their toolbox. “Even though the White House has no formal or legal role in administering elections, Mr. Trump installed Kurt Olsen, who tried to help overturn his election loss in 2020, to oversee election integrity and security. Mr. Olsen has since moved to the Justice Department, working in a U.S. attorney office’s in Florida that is investigating what Trump supporters call a “grand conspiracy” against him. Despite the Trump administration’s demands for voter roll data, at least eight federal district judges have turned the administration away. Half of those judges were appointed by Mr. Trump. The administration is appealing the decisions. “I don’t know that the Department of Justice has ever had a zero-for-eight streak,” Mr. Becker said, adding that Mr. Essayli’s comments were likely to make it even harder for a judge to rule in the administration’s favor. Read Article

National: Postal Service won’t deliver mail ballots for states that don’t hand over voter lists, under plan for Trump directive | Tierney Sneed, Jeremy Herb and Gabe Cohen/CNN

State election officials could soon face a stark choice: Hand over voter lists to the Trump administration or risk losing Postal Service delivery for mail-in ballots. That dilemma stems from newly proposed USPS rules that seek to comply with an executive order President Donald Trump signed this spring to crack down on mail-in voting. If courts let the order stand, it would give the federal government an unprecedented role in elections — and could put even more voter data in the hands of Trump officials searching for supposed election fraud. The proposed rules lay out new conditions that states would have to meet to send ballots through the mail, including giving the agency lists of all voters set to receive mail ballots. Read Article

National: Justice Department officials dance around Trump’s unsupported claims of California election fraud | Tierney Sneed, Paula Reid and Hannah Rabinowitz/CNN

When President Donald Trump made claims of Democratic vote-rigging in the Los Angeles election, his top appointed prosecutor in the city took to the cameras to validate those beliefs while hinting his office may never be able prove that kind of grand conspiracy. The Justice Department has launched no new criminal cases connected to how the city administered last week’s contest, according to a source familiar with the matter, even as the president said on social media last week that such an investigation was underway. The playbook is a familiar one — both for Trump, who faced criminal charges for his schemes to overturn the 2020 election, and now for the Justice Department leaders whose standing in the administration depends on keeping the president happy. They have seized on long-standing gripes about how long it takes California officials to report election results. But without providing evidence of a sweeping plot to steal elections from Republicans, DOJ officials are instead hyping singular cases they have prosecuted dealing with illegal voter registration or single-digit noncitizen voting, while accusing Democrats of getting in the way of their investigations. Read Article

National: States step into voting rights void left by federal rulings | News From The States

As the U.S. Supreme Court pulls back from the landmark federal law designed to safeguard the voting rights of minorities, more states are stepping in to prohibit discrimination in state and local elections. State versions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act include some of the federal law’s approaches to fighting discrimination, including prohibitions against voter intimidation and vote dilution — that is, drawing electoral maps that distribute racial minorities across districts in a way that denies them the opportunity to elect their candidates of choice. The state laws also typically require local jurisdictions to get state approval before changing their election maps and policies. Those so-called preclearance provisions matter because its federal counterpart within the Voting Rights Act was rendered unenforceable by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013. Many of the state laws direct courts to consider a variety of ways to solve discriminatory voting policies, and aim to push voters and government officials to work together to head off lawsuits. Read Article

National: How Senate Democrats are planning to push back on potential election interference | Lisa Kashinsky/Politico

Senate Democrats are war-gaming legal maneuvers and messaging strategies to thwart potential efforts by President Donald Trump or foreign actors to influence the results of the midterms. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and nine other Democratic senators huddled with top party election experts last week to drill responses to a range of extreme scenarios — from federal agents at polling locations, to ballot seizures in key battlegrounds, to foreign interference operations — that they fear could become reality pre- and post-Election Day. They game-planned legal injunctions to bar armed federal agents or armed citizens from voting sites, and lawsuits to force the Trump administration to return ballots if they’re confiscated in key contests that could decide control of Congress. They also choreographed communication strategies across elected leaders, campaigns and advocacy groups to combat misinformation and disinformation designed to sow distrust in the results. Read Article

National: Trump administration’s investigations into 2020 voter fraud may be more about the 2026 election | Dion Nissenbaum and Alexander Shur/Votebeat

The FBI agents arrived at David Bolter’s Milwaukee home on a cool, cloudy Wednesday morning in late May. They were armed with a list of questions for the 2020 poll worker, who had raised concerns about the way local officials handled the 2020 election, Bolter told Votebeat. President Donald Trump relied on Bolter’s claims in an unsuccessful 2020 lawsuit that sought to throw out more than 220,000 votes. That would have been more than enough to move Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes from Democrat Joe Biden, who won the state, to Trump. Though courts, several election reviews, and many audits rejected Trump’s claims, the Republican never stopped believing that he was cheated out of the presidency in 2020. That appears to be why, last month, the FBI sent agents back to Milwaukee to question Bolter as part of an expanding national effort by the second Trump administration to investigate long-debunked claims of fraud in the 2020 election. Read Article

American Democracy Wasn’t Designed for This | Jeffrey Rosen/The Atlantic

In 1787, after the Founders signed the Constitution in Philadelphia, Alexander Hamilton wrote in “Federalist No. 1” that there was more at stake than the future of a single country. The American experiment would “decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.” The Founders were hopeful, in part because the information environment of the late 18th century was favorable to “reflection and choice.” A flourishing newspaper industry kept Americans informed and fostered vigorous debate. But the number of publications was limited—about 100 total in the 13 states—and the authority of editors and writers meant that a free press didn’t turn into a free-for-all. And at a time when nothing traveled faster than a horse or ship, the sheer size of the new country meant that news spread slowly, an obstacle to impulsive public decisions. Given time for deliberation, passions would cool, and elected representatives could focus on the country’s long-term good rather than short-term gratification. Today, those advantages have disappeared, thanks to a technological revolution the Founders could never have imagined. The internet has turned everyone into a potential publisher, able to instantly spread facts or falsehoods to millions. Most people get information about politics and current events not from newspapers but from social media, which discourages engagement with human beings of different political persuasions. Now the rise of AI is discouraging engagement with any human beings at all; instead, more and more people are forming their views in conversation with a machine that lacks moral sense. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the biggest question for our democracy is whether a system designed for the communications technologies of the 18th century can survive those of the 21st. Read Article

Alaska election officials take steps to disqualify second Dan Sullivan from Senate primary | Becky Bohrer/Associated Press

A top Alaska elections official has threatened to disqualify from the state’s August primary a U.S. Senate candidate who shares the same name and party affiliation as incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan. Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher in a letter to challenger Dan Sullivan said her office had received two complaints regarding his eligibility and determined “that the preponderance of evidence does not support your eligibility for the office of United States Senator.” She gave him a Thursday deadline to submit “any additional information and evidence” in response. Sullivan, the challenger, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment about the letter from Beecher, a registered Republican who in the past has donated to Republican groups and campaigns. Her letter, dated Wednesday and published by the Anchorage Daily News, did not specify the evidence it found to potentially remove him from the primary ballot, and her office did not respond to requests for comment. Read Article

Arizona: Special prosecutor investigating latest election-control disagreement in Maricopa County | Sasha Hupka/Votebeat

In a new twist of the feud, a special prosecutor is looking into wheIn a new twist of the feud, a special prosecutor is looking into whether employees in the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office broke the law by allegedly removing a scanner and provisional ballot envelopes from the county’s vote tabulation headquarters amid a local election earlier this year. Recorder Justin Heap, a Republican, said in a recent legal filing that he wanted possession of the scanner, which he said belongs to his office — a claim that the county’s mostly-GOP board of supervisors disputed. He also requested a court order barring any criminal prosecution of his employees related to the incident, which occurred as votes were being tallied in the March 10 election for three seats on the Tempe City Council. Read Article

California clashes with Trump DOJ over election fraud probe | Lindsey Holden/Politico

Tensions between the Trump administration and California Democratic leaders escalated as primary ballot-counting continued Friday, after a federal prosecutor said, without evidence, that he’s investigating unspecified allegations of voter fraud. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in an X post that his office “has multiple election fraud investigations underway” in coordination with the FBI. And Department of Justice spokesperson Kyle Perez confirmed an assistant U.S. attorney was present at a Los Angeles ballot processing center on Friday. “He was sent there by our office to observe the vote counting process,” Perez said in an email. Perez did not respond to a question about the specific fraud allegations Essayli’s office said it is investigating. In response, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in an X post on Friday his office “has a presence on the ground right now, is monitoring the situation closely, and stands ready to protect voters and ensure California’s election laws are followed.” Read Article

Florida: Ex-Dominion employee’s lawsuit got so heated a judge had to order everyone not to bring ‘any type of weapon’ to depositions | Matt Naham/Law & Crime

A federal judge tried to lower the temperature in a former Dominion Voting Systems employee’s defamation lawsuit in Florida after an “alleged physical altercation at a deposition,” threatening sanctions if anyone involved shows up with a “weapon.” In late January, a deposition was supposed to begin without incident in Eric Coomer’s lawsuit against ex-Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne for falsely accusing him of playing a role in stealing the 2020 election from President Donald Trump. Instead, Coomer attorney Charlie Cain and Byrne attorney Peter Ticktin came to blows that morning at a Courtyard by Marriott in Tampa. While multiple witness statements said Ticktin was the instigator and shoved Cain, Ticktin apparently replied: “I’ve got a lying sleazebag opposing counsel who assaults people because he has daddy issues.” Court documents said the deposition was briefly derailed because Coomer’s attorney objected to an unwelcome presence in the room, right-wing podcaster Joe Oltmann. Coomer recounted that Oltmann — who has “literally called for Plaintiff’s death on multiple occasions” — has said, “he is always armed with a gun.” Read Article

Georgia GOP demands access to election headquarters | Caleb Groves/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Republican state senator demanded in Fulton County Superior Court on Wednesday that the secretary of state’s office allow observers into its election night reporting center, testifying that failing to do so undermines trust in the electoral process. State Sen. Greg Dolezal, who is running for lieutenant governor, and two other Republicans have sued to compel Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to admit credentialed poll watchers and State Election Board members into the center for all future elections. The secretary of state’s attorneys on Wednesday sought to dismiss the lawsuit. Although at least one current state board member had previously been invited to attend election night reporting, Raffensperger’s attorneys said that there is no legal right entitling board members and others to observe election night reporting. “No polling, no tabulation of votes, no voting occurs at the emergency operation center,” said Alexis Gregorian, an attorney representing Raffensperger. Vote casting and counting occur at the local level, while state officials receive and publish unofficial vote totals from across Georgia’s 159 counties at the emergency operations center on election night. Secretary of state officials also use the facility to monitor potential threats and other election issues. Read Articlea>

Kansas: How many noncitizen voters have Scott Schwab and Kris Kobach found? | Jason Alatidd/Topeka Capital-Journal

Seven months after telling reporters they expected to find hundreds if not thousands of noncitizen voters, the state’s top election official and top prosecutor have publicly identified three total criminal cases. The most prominent of the noncitizen voting cases is that of former Coldwater Mayor Jose “Joe” Ceballos, a permanent resident who pleaded guilty to lesser charges but was still taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ceballos was the first case announced by Attorney General Kris Kobach and Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a pair of Republicans who held a press conference in Topeka on Nov. 5. Read Article

Michigan: Lawyers who sought to overturn 2020 election face misconduct hearing | Craig Mauger/The Detroit News

Nearly 2,000 days after a group of lawyers attempted to reverse President Donald Trump’s loss in Michigan’s 2020 election, they’ve been quietly facing professional misconduct hearings on the 17th floor of an office building in downtown Detroit. The proceedings, which began previously and continued Thursday, have been playing out with Trump, a Republican, back in the White House after he won in 2024 and as he has continued to spread unsubstantiated theories of fraud about his 2020 defeat. About 10 people were in a small meeting room Thursday as a panel, appointed by Michigan’s Attorney Discipline Board, considered testimony about the unsuccessful 2020 suit that was publicly championed by Texas lawyer Sidney Powell. She once described the national legal push to challenge the election as releasing the “kraken.” Read Article

Pennsylvania House takes another shot at giving election workers more ballot-sorting time | Ethan Young/PennLive

The Pennsylvania House passed a bill Tuesday allowing for the processing of mail-in ballots to begin up to seven days prior to Election Day, an issue that state lawmakers have battled over for years to no avail. The bill modifies Pennsylvania’s Election Code to allow for additional days of pre-canvassing, which involves the opening and inspection of the envelopes containing ballots, but not for the recording or publishing of actual votes. The bill passed by a vote of 103-to-99, with all Democrats in favor and all but one Republican opposed. It remains to be seen if the measure can pass the Republican-controlled state Senate, after previous years’ attempts to make a deal on the issue have stalled. The bill’s author, Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre County, said there is “always hope” the bill makes it through the upper chamber. Read Article

Texas local election officials await secretary of state pick | Natalia Contreras/The Texas Tribune

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson’s unexpected departure only a few months before the November midterm election, which includes one of the most hotly contested U.S. Senate races the state has seen in years, has some local election officials and voting rights advocates worrying the transition will complicate their ability to administer a smooth election. “It’s the unknown, the uncertainty that is scary,” said Tandi Smith, the Kaufman County elections administrator. “Are we going to continue to receive guidance? Are we going to be ensured that we’ll be prepared for any coming changes? We just don’t know.” Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, is required by law to appoint a new secretary as soon as possible. His office, in an emailed statement, said the new appointee would be announced “at a later date.” Read Article

Wisconsin: Proposed Postal Service rule could risk ballot delivery | Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The United States Postal Service is proposing a new rule that could require states to hand over some voter information to the Trump administration or risk losing delivery of mail-in ballots. The proposed requirement released earlier this month may have implications for Wisconsin, where state election officials have successfully blocked a Trump administration effort to obtain personal information about voters, such as names, dates of birth, residential addresses, drivers license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. The new proposed rule from the U.S. Postal Service requires states to provide the agency with the names and unique barcodes associated with each voter who is voting absentee. The Trump administration intends for the rule to be in place before the midterm election. “This provision will help determine adherence to federal law and facilitate law enforcement efforts,” U.S.P.S. officials wrote in the proposed rule, which is not final until July and could change. Read Article

Wyoming Secretary of State rejects AI from registering for U.S. Senate but man behind AI is undeterred | Wyoming Public Media

VIC, an artificial intelligence (AI) backed by Cheyenne resident Victor Miller, has been banned from registering to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Miller is taking that decision to federal court. The Secretary of State Chuck Gray rejected Miller’s AI for failure to comply with the ballot name requirements under Wyoming law. That rejection was affirmed by the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming when Miller’s motion for a temporary restraining order was denied. Miller amended his complaint after the motion was denied. Miller tried to run the Chat GPT program for mayor of Cheyenne in 2024. Victor and his AI lost that election. After the mayoral election, Miller stepped back from electoral politics to focus on the Rational Governing Alliance (RGA), an organization with the goal of “transforming democratic governance through artificial intelligence.” Read Article

SAVE Act, Republicans’ sweeping election overhaul, fails in the Senate | Miles Parks/NPR

The SAVE America Act, a far-reaching Republican election overhaul that President Trump said should be his congressional allies’ top priority, has officially failed in the Senate. The measure was voted on Thursday as an amendment as part of lengthy debate over an immigration funding package. The election bill has languished in the Senate for months, after the House passed a version in February on a near party-line vote. The election proposal would have taken effect immediately, even as voting is underway in congressional primaries. Notably, the legislation would have required voters to show a document proving their U.S. citizenship, like a passport or a birth certificate, when they registered to vote. Research has shown millions of Americans don’t have easy access to those documents. And experts say such a provision is unnecessary, as noncitizens have never been shown to vote at anything but microscopic numbers in American elections. Read Article

National: Congress weighs cuts to states’ already ‘insufficient’ election security dollars | Jonathan Shorman/News From The States

Ahead of the November midterm elections, President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have demanded Congress pass sweeping voting restrictions, including showing proof of citizenship to register — all in the name of election security. At the same time, the only federal agency dedicated solely to helping states and localities run smooth and secure elections operates on a meager budget. It provides grants for election security far smaller than in the past. And U.S. House Republicans have signaled they want sizable further cuts. The agency, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, sits at the center of a fight playing out in Congress over how to best ensure secure elections. The debate has thrown into sharp relief a yawning gap between GOP rhetoric over election tampering and actual congressional support for election security efforts. Read Article

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