As Arizona adopts new system for overseas voters, some officials sound alarmncern | Jen Fifield/Votebeat

Overseas voters who are registered in Arizona are receiving their ballots this week in a new way for the state’s special congressional election — but at least a few county officials are worried that the new system isn’t ready, and say they didn’t have enough time to notify voters of the change. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced the launch of the new system on Friday for military and overseas voters who are registered to vote in Arizona and eligible to vote through the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, or UOCAVA. These voters will now cast their ballots through a web portal run by an outside vendor, technology company Enhanced Voting, rather than using an in-house system. Fontes’ office is promoting the change as a long-needed upgrade that will allow overseas voters to cast their ballots anonymously and fully electronically for the first time. “This new system is a leap forward in ensuring that every eligible voter, no matter where they are in the world, can easily cast a ballot that is both secure and truly anonymous,” Fontes wrote in a news release. Read Article

Pennsylvania: Justice Department wants more voter and election information from Pa. officials | Tirzah Christopher/PennLive

The Department of Justice has sent a second letter to the Pennsylvania Department of State requesting records on voters, election officials and duplicate voting. The letter, dated Aug. 3, which requested a list of all state and local election officials responsible for maintaining voter registration lists from November 2022 through the date the letter was received. The agency also asked for more information on the state’s efforts to combat duplicate voting as well as voter registration history for all voters categorized as noncitizens, “adjudicated incompetent,” or who had a felony conviction during the same period. Read Article

National: In Election Cases, Supreme Court Keeps Removing Guardrails | Adam Liptak/The New York Times

If Republicans succeed in pulling off an aggressively partisan gerrymander of congressional districts in Texas, they will owe the Supreme Court a debt of gratitude. In the two decades Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has led the Supreme Court, the justices have reshaped American elections not just by letting state lawmakers like those in Texas draw voting maps warped by politics, but also by gutting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and amplifying the role of money in politics. Developments in recent weeks signaled that some members of the court think there is more work to be done in removing legal guardrails governing elections. There are now signs that court is considering striking down or severely constraining the remaining pillar of the Voting Rights Act, a towering achievement of the civil rights movement that has protected the rights of minority voters since it was enacted 60 years ago last week. Read Article

Texas redistricting fight complicates prep for 2026 primary | Natalia Contreras/The Texas Tribune

With Texas legislators locked in a standoff over Republicans’ push to redraw the state’s congressional districts mid-decade, time is running out for election officials to prepare for next year’s primary without major disruption. Planning for the March primary election is already underway, but election officials say they can’t move forward without finalized maps — and the first key deadline, mandated by the state, is coming Sept. 9. Democratic lawmakers have pledged to remain out of the state in protest of the Republicans’ proposed congressional map, making an agreement unlikely by the end of the special session Aug. 19. The proposed map could still change, and if Gov. Greg Abbott calls another special session, the debate could extend well into the fall. Read Article

National: States should scrutinize Justice Department’s requests for voter rolls | Jessica Huseman/Votebeat

The U.S. Justice Department has begun asking states to hand over lots of information, including voter rolls, in its campaign to check compliance with federal voting laws. Pennsylvania got an expanded request this week. Eventually, all 50 states will be contacted. State officials tell Votebeat they are hesitant to respond to the requests, which haven’t provided much explanation of how the data will be used or protected. Their reluctance makes sense: The requests themselves might violate federal law. Some states, including Maine, have already said no to the Justice Department’s request. Others are still reviewing them. Read Article

Opinion: Trump is already using election fraud lie to sway midterms | Chris Brennan/USA TODAY

The 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act came and went on Aug. 6 amid a massive mission shift within the U.S. Department of Justice. That agency spent six decades using the Civil Rights Movement law to protect the ability of all Americans to cast ballots in elections. Now, the people President Donald Trump put in charge at the DOJ have shifted that mission entirely to protecting him from election results he dislikes. The DOJ is out of the civil rights business. Now its officials making demands, with not-so-veiled threats, for data from state election administrators while regurgitating Trump’s oldest lie about elections – that hoards of noncitizens cast ballots, changing who wins and loses. Read Article