South Carolina election agency fires 2nd official, confirms hidden recorder | John Monk/The State

The South Carolina State Election Commission fired its second top official on Tuesday and confirmed that the State Law Enforcement Division found a hidden recording device in the agency’s meeting room. Agency Deputy Director Paige Salonich was terminated as of Tuesday for a variety of offenses including placing an “unauhorized device in the Election Commission training room, a clear violation of state and agency policy,” said a letter sent Tuesday to Salonich. She was making a salary of $141,788 a year. Salonich’s placing of the device, which sources told The State was a voice-activated digital recorder, was “recorded on agency security cameras,” the letter to her stated. Read Article

Texas counties struggle with new voter registration system | Natalia Contreras/The Texas Tribune

Darcy Hood mailed her voter registration application to the Tarrant County elections department in July, after she turned 18. Months later, her application still hasn’t been processed. And it’s unclear when it will be. With the Oct. 6 deadline to register to vote in November’s constitutional amendment election approaching, tens of thousands of Texans are in the same situation, waiting in suspense for their applications to go through, a process that normally takes a few days or weeks. In interviews, private conversations, and emails, county elections officials from across the state point the finger at the state’s voter registration system, known as TEAM, which has long had functionality problems. They say that after the software was overhauled in July, the problems began proliferating: Voters’ previous addresses override their new ones, their voting precincts don’t populate correctly, and sometimes the registration information doesn’t save at all. Read Article

Wisconsin bill would repeal ‘outdated’ ballot drawdown law and require risk-limiting audits | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

Wisconsin’s controversial practice of randomly removing ballots to resolve discrepancies between the number of ballots and the number of voters would be prohibited under new draft legislation that requires meticulous audits in every county. The draft proposal, obtained by Votebeat from Republican Rep. Scott Krug, will be formally released this week. Krug said the proposed ban on removing random ballots, known as drawdowns, was inspired largely by a Votebeat investigation highlighting election officials’ reluctance to use the practice and questions about its constitutionality. Wisconsin’s law allowing drawdowns is almost as old as the state, and it appears to be used most often in recounts. Other states have had similar laws, but most have repealed them. Read Article

National: Election deniers now hold posts on local US election boards, raising concerns for midterms | George Chidi/The Guardian

A number of people who deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and often of other elections in which Republicans have not been victorious, have been elevated to positions of power since Donald Trump’s re-election, raising concerns about the potential for partisan meddling in critical parts of the country such as Arizona and Georgia. State by state, activists aligned with the “election integrity” movement have found their way on to local elections boards and elections offices, raising red flags for Democrats who have already started efforts to have them removed. “I think Republicans want to put us in jail,” Fulton county commissioner Dana Barrett said, moments after a contempt hearing in an Atlanta, Georgia, courtroom in August, where she and five other county commissioners were fighting a battle to reject the appointment of two Republican election denialists to the Fulton county board of registrations and elections. Read Article

National: Some Americans abroad can’t send mail to U.S. because of tariffs | Meryl Kornfield/The Washington Post

Since President Donald Trump’s latest push in tariffs, shoppers are seeing higher costs for foreign goods. Postal traffic to the United States has plunged. And Christy Sweet is running out of days to prove to the government that she’s still alive. The 64-year-old American living in Thailand must mail a Social Security form required annually for beneficiaries living abroad within 60 days to get her retirement benefits, but there has been an unexpected problem: Her local mail office told her that she can’t mail anything to the U.S. without paying $65 for a premium shipping service. She has scoured the Social Security website, sought help from Thai and U.S. officials, and considered paying to ensure that she can continue getting her only income, an $800-per-month retirement check. “I need this money,” she said. “If I don’t get it, I’m screwed.” Sweet isn’t the only American expat stuck in this mail maelstrom. A worldwide community of Americans living abroad relies on snail mail every year to stay in touch with friends and family who are stateside, receive government services and vote. Read Article

National: Senators call for election security briefing as major races draw closer | David DiMolfetta/Nextgov/FCW

A pair of senators are concerned that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard may have instructed spy agencies to stop disclosing intelligence on foreign adversaries’ attempts to undermine the integrity of U.S. elections and sway election outcomes through influence operations. Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Alex Padilla of California, the top Democrats on the high chamber’s intelligence and rules committees, asked Gabbard in a Monday letter to schedule a briefing with senators by Oct. 10 to provide an assessment of planned steps the intelligence community is taking to protect the security of upcoming elections in November, as well as next year’s midterms. They also asked Gabbard to clarify statements she’s made since taking office that appear to call into question the security of voting machines in the U.S. Those statements are “harmful and unsubstantiated,” the lawmakers wrote. Independent groups test voting platforms for vulnerabilities ahead of major elections, and past reviews show that claims about their poor technical controls stem largely from false narratives spread by foreign adversaries. Read Article

National: Blue states get green light on suit over Trump’s election changes | Erik Uebelacker/Courthouse News Service

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s request to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the president’s sweeping changes to the U.S. election process, which Democratic states claim is “blatantly unconstitutional.” In a 30-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Denise Casper found that the states sufficiently pleaded their standing and that they’d face immediate harm under the new rules, which would implement a documentary proof of citizenship voting requirement and ban counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. The government sought to tie federal funds under the Help America Vote Act — a 2002 law aimed at making voting more inclusive, accessible and efficient — to the states’ compliance with the changes. This gives the states standing to sue, Casper said. Read Article

National: Trump’s call to end mail-in voting creates a dilemma for GOP | Sejal Govindarao/Associated Press

President Donald Trump has vowed to do away with voting by mail, but some of his Republican allies in two Western battleground states are taking a more cautious approach. U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, one of two candidates with Trump’s endorsement in the Arizona governor’s race, does not support the elimination of mail voting altogether, though he previously questioned it after Trump’s 2020 defeat. His primary challenger, developer Karrin Taylor Robson, also is backed by Trump but hasn’t gone as far as Biggs to declare where she stands on eliminating mail voting. The dilemma highlights a recurring challenge some GOP candidates face heading into next year’s midterm elections. They’re scrambling to balance their allegiance to Trump against the desire for convenience among many Republican voters. That’s especially sensitive in the Arizona governor’s contest, where Trump has taken the unorthodox approach of giving his full-throated endorsement to both Biggs and Taylor Robson. Read Article

National: Some Republican states resist DOJ demand for private voter data | Jonathan Shorman/Stateline

When the U.S. Department of Justice asked Kansas Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab to turn over a copy of his state’s full voter list, including sensitive personal data, he responded with gratitude for the Trump administration. “We appreciate the efforts of DOJ and other federal partners to assist in ensuring states have access to federal resources” to maintain voter rolls, Schwab wrote in an Aug. 21 letter to the agency. But Schwab did not provide the full data the Justice Department wanted. Instead, the second-term state secretary of state and candidate for governor wrote that he was “initially” giving its lawyers only publicly available voter information. As the Trump administration demands that states turn over voter data, some Republican state officials are pushing back. Read Article

National: Senators, FBI Director Patel clash over cyber division personnel, arrests | Tim Starks/CyberScoop

FBI cyber division cuts under President Donald Trump will reduce personnel there by half, a top Democratic senator warned Tuesday, while FBI Director Kash Patel countered that arrests and convictions have risen under the Trump administration. A contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing dominated by clashes over political violence, Patel’s leadership and accusations about the politicization of the bureau nonetheless saw senators probing the FBI’s performance on cybersecurity. “My office received information that cuts to the bureau’s cyber division will cut personnel by half despite the ever-increasing threat posed by adverse foreign actors,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the panel. The Trump administration has proposed a $500 million cut for the FBI in fiscal 2026. Read Article

National: Voter Registration is Being Undermined Across America | Hannah Fried/TIME

As the country marks National Voter Registration Day on September 16, we reflect on the power of broad participation in our democracy—and the threats to it. While community partners nationwide do the important work to bring more people into the democratic process, federal and state lawmakers are advancing efforts that do the opposite. Congressional Republicans’ misnamed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which has passed the House of Representatives but awaits consideration in the Senate, as well as President Donald Trump’s election executive order and his vow to end vote-by-mail are part of a broader national effort to restrict voting access. But the threat is unfolding beyond Capitol Hill and the White House—in the quiet spread of laws and policies closer to home. Less visible, yet just as dangerous, is a wave of copycat bills in statehouses and local governments across the country—over 160 this year alone—mirroring federal attempts to use voter silencing laws to take away the votes of eligible Americans. From Florida to Ohio to Michigan, state lawmakers are pushing for legislation that would force voters to prove their citizenship with documents like birth certificates or passports. Such bills would disproportionately impact populations who already face deliberate barriers to voting, such as students, active-duty military, Black and Brown voters, rural residents, and low-income Americans. Read Article

Arizona: Federal court blocks election manual’s rule on voter intimidation | Jen Fifield/Votebeat

A panel of judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ rules restricting activity around polling places cannot be enforced. The judges let stand another rule related to what happens if counties don’t certify their election results. The ruling will shape Arizona’s next Election Procedures Manual, which instructs election officials on how to comply with state election laws. While Fontes already released a new draft manual for the 2026 elections, he will be revising the rules until they are approved by the attorney general and governor by the end of this year. Read Article

Georgia Republican Party pursues goals of reducing early and absentee voting | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Spearheaded by a 2020 Republican elector for President Donald Trump, the Georgia Republican Party is pitching an agenda to get rid of a week of early voting, end no-excuse absentee voting and eliminate automatic voter registration. The party brought its wish list to a Republican-led legislative study committee that will soon recommend changes to state election laws. Republican Party leaders have said for years that they want to make it “easy to vote and hard to cheat,” but the party’s goals would reduce voting options for the 4 million voters who cast early or absentee ballots in last year’s presidential election. Democrats and voting rights groups say the GOP’s priorities would make it harder for Georgia voters to cast their ballots and would perpetuate policies driven by five years of grievances since Trump’s narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Read Article

Maine: Trump’s Justice Department says it sued Maine for not turning over voter data | Emma Davis is/Maine Morning Star

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it sued Maine and Oregon for declining to turn over personal voter information. “Maine has some of the best elections in the nation,” Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a statement. “It is absurd that the Department of Justice is targeting our state when Republican and Democratic secretaries all across the country are fighting back against this federal abuse of power just like we are.” Maine’s Department of the Secretary of State has received no notification of the lawsuit, as of late Tuesday. The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office also told Maine Morning Star’s partner outlet the Oregon Capital Chronicle that it hasn’t seen a court filing. No documents have yet shown up on the court record database PACER. But in a press release, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division said that it sued the two states and their respective secretaries of state for not providing information about voter list maintenance procedures and electronic copies of statewide voter registration lists. Read Article

Michigan: Pocket guides on election laws offer bridge between election officials, law enforcement | Kyle Davidson/Michigan Advance

As election officials continue to face threats, harassment and abuse, a bipartisan coalition of election experts and law enforcement officials is working to build collaboration in hopes of protecting voters, elections and their administrators from bad actors. The Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, created in 2022, is offering a number of new resources for both election officials and law enforcement officers, including pocket-sized legal guides detailing election laws in all 50 states, giving both groups an easily accessible reference should questions – or issues – arise on Election Day. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 22 states have enacted or updated laws to protect election officials and poll workers since 2020. In August, the committee released an updated version of these guides to reflect changes to election laws in states across the country. Read Article

North Carolina: Ahead of 2026 midterms, courts rule on key NC election practices | Kyle Ingram/Raleigh News & Observer

A federal judge on Monday approved a settlement between the North Carolina State Board of Elections and President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice regarding over 100,000 voters with incomplete registrations. That settlement largely codifies the board’s existing Registration Repair project, which began this summer and aims to collect driver’s license numbers or Social Security numbers from voters who lack the information in the state’s databases. Since beginning the project, the board has reduced the number of voters with missing information by 22%. “Our plan is working, and this number will continue to drop as more voters become aware of this effort and fix their registrations,” said Sam Hayes, the board’s executive director. Read Article

Oregon: Trump administration sues Oregon for refusing to turn over voter data | Bryce Dole/OPB

The federal government accuses Oregon and Secretary of State Tobias Read of “failing to provide information regarding voter list maintenance procedures and electronic copies of statewide voter registration lists,” a Tuesday press release said. It also sued the state of Maine and its secretary of state. “States simply cannot pick and choose which federal laws they will comply with, including our voting laws, which ensure that all American citizens have equal access to the ballot in federal elections,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, is the latest action by President Donald Trump’s administration to curb what they see as voter fraud. In August, the administration sent requests to Read’s office asking for the state to provide voter information and prove that it’s taking steps to root out ineligible voters. Read Article

Rhode Island: ‘I will not participate’: Secretary of State Gregg Amore refuses to give Trump DOJ ‘personally identifiable’ voter info | Katherine Gregg/Providence Journal

The U.S. Department of Justice has demanded Rhode Island’s voter rolls, but Secretary of State Gregg Amore is refusing to provide the level of personal information the federal agency is seeking about the state’s voters. In a response letter that went out Sept. 16, Amore said he would be “pleased to voluntarily” provide a copy of the publicly available voter registration list, but “I must protect the personally identifiable information of Rhode Island voters.” He said he would not, without “a demonstration of a proper legal basis” or a court order. provide the “personally identifiable information” the federal agency is seeking, including the state driver’s license number and the last four digits of the Social Security number of each registered voter. Read Article

South Carolina election commission ousts executive director Howard Knapp | Lucy Valeski/The State

The state election commission fired Executive Director Howard Knapp from his post during a scheduled meeting Wednesday, but declined to immediately disclose why other than a desire for “new leadership.” The removal did not have to do with the “conduct of any election in South Carolina,” chairman Dennis Shedd said in an emailed statement after the meeting. After a nearly five-hour executive session with no lunch break Wednesday afternoon, the commission came back and voted to remove Knapp. The vote was 3-2, with Shedd joining board members Clifford Edler and Scott Moseley voting to remove Knapp. Following the public meeting, staff members had a separate meeting where they were told about Knapp’s removal. Some staff appeared visibly surprised afterward, however, others seemed upset during the executive session before the vote to fire Knapp. Read Article

Texas: Dallas County Republicans vote to hand-count March primary election day ballots | Tracey McManus/Dallas Morning News

Dallas County is poised to become the largest jurisdiction in the U.S. to hand-count paper ballots as the local Republican Party has decided to manually tally election day ballots during its March primary. After two hours discussing their distrust of electronic voting machines and tabulators on Monday, Dallas County Republican leaders adopted the hand-counting plan for ballots cast on March 3 but excluded ballots submitted during early voting. With more than 49,000 Republican ballots expected to be cast on election day, the endeavor presents a significant task for the party as Texas law requires vote totals be submitted to the state 24 hours after polls close on election day. The plan is contingent upon securing sufficient staffing, funding and project management, according to the resolution. DRead Article3

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