National: Why defunding the Election Assistance Commission may hurt election integrity | Jonathan Madison, Matt Germer and Chris McIsaac/R Street Institute

Americans want secure, trustworthy elections. Unfortunately, the president’s proposed budget envisions a substantial cut—nearly 40 percent—to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), a small agency focused on certifying voting technology. In an era of justifiable concern over rampant government spending, it’s tempting to see every budget cut as a win for fiscal responsibility. But some cuts risk doing more harm than good. At a time when public trust in elections is fragile and threats to voting systems are growing more sophisticated, gutting the very agency responsible for shoring up election infrastructure sends the wrong message and creates real vulnerabilities. The EAC plays a vital role that few people know much about. Created under the 2002 Help America Vote Act, it coordinates testing and certification of voting systems, accredits laboratories, distributes grants, and publishes guidance to bolster election administration. It’s a bipartisan commission with a rare track record of productivity. While it’s right to ensure every agency delivers value for taxpayers, these cuts risk impairing the EAC’s ability to carry out core election security functions—just as the Trump administration looks to increase its workload. Read Article

Alabama: Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act, marchers recall a hard-won struggle | Kim Chandler/Associated Press

Facing a sea of state troopers, Charles Mauldin was near the front line of voting rights marchers who strode across the now-infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. The violence that awaited them shocked the nation and galvanized support for the passage of the U.S. Voting Rights Act a few months later. Wednesday marked the 60th anniversary of the landmark legislation becoming law. Those at the epicenter of the fight for voting rights for Black Americans recalled their memories of the struggle, and expressed fear that those hard-won rights are being eroded. Read Article

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes cuts staff, citing tight budget | Jen Fifield/Votebeat

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is eliminating several top positions in his office, citing budget constraints. On Wednesday, his communications director confirmed that three staffers — George Diaz, director of government relations; JP Martin, deputy communications director; and Angie Cloutier, security operations manager — are being dismissed. Fontes’ office oversees statewide elections as well as the state library, archives, and business services. Read Article

California: Elon Musk and X notch court win against deepfake law | Chase DiFeliciantonio/Politico

A federal judge on Tuesday struck down a California law restricting AI-generated, deepfake content during elections — among the strictest such measures in the country — notching a win for Elon Musk and his X platform, which challenged the rules. But Judge John Mendez also declined to give an opinion on the free speech arguments that were central to the plaintiffs’ case, instead citing federal rules for online platforms for his decision. Mendez also said he intended to overrule a second law, which would require labels on digitally altered campaign materials and ads, for violating the First Amendment. The judge’s decisions Tuesday deal a blow to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed the laws last year in a rebuke of Musk, vowing to take action after the tech billionaire and then-Donald Trump supporter shared a doctored video of former Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the election. Read Article

Georgia Election Board seeks DOJ aid to again investigate 2020 election | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Three right-wing members of the State Election Board have revived a fight over the 2020 presidential election and called for President Donald Trump’s Justice Department to intervene. The surprise move by the Republican board members — the same three praised by Trump as “pit bulls” during a campaign rally last fall — gives new life to skepticism of the president’s narrow loss in Georgia in 2020. While many elected Republicans in Georgia have said they want to move on from 2020 after Trump’s undisputed win last year, the State Election Board remains focused on its questions about Fulton County’s handling of the 2020 recount. Although multiple recounts, state investigations and court cases upheld the 2020 election, Trump’s supporters continue to make unproven allegations of fraud. Read Article

Hawaiʻi Elections Officials Tackle Big Island Ballot Discrepancies | Chad Blair/Honolulu Civil Beat

The Wednesday meeting of the Hawaiʻi Elections Commission was unlike all others over the past three years in that Commissioner Ralph Cushnie, an outspoken election skeptic, didn’t say much. He didn’t have to. Nearly all of the dozens of people who testified during the lengthy Zoom meeting, as well as some of Cushnie’s fellow commissioners, were singing from the Cushnie hymnal. It goes like this: There is something wrong with the way Hawaiʻi counts its mail-in ballots. The county and state elections offices need to be independently audited. The state’s chief elections officer needs to be disciplined or fired. Nothing less than voter integrity and the credibility of democracy in Hawaiʻi rides on it. Read Article

Michigan clerk uses quiet Aug. 5 election to prep for busier ones ahead | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

On one of her two purple phones, Livonia City Clerk Lori Miller has a sticker that proudly proclaims “I 💜 Boring Elections.” And on Tuesday, that’s just what she got. Elections in her city and across the state were uneventful, a welcome gift to clerks who are bracing for a busy 2026. Miller used the primary in Livonia, a Detroit suburb in Wayne County, as an opportunity to test out some upgrades ahead of a competitive city council race in November and next year’s elections for the U.S. House and Senate, state legislative seats, governor, and other statewide offices. Read Article

Michigan: Mediation ordered in fight over election training materials | Clara Hendrickson/Detroit Free Press

A Michigan Court of Claims judge ordered mediation in the lawsuit the Michigan House filed against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over subpoenas to obtain training materials for election administrators, the release of which Benson fears could compromise election security. Benson has provided some of the material sought by the Republican-led Michigan House Oversight Committee but has expressed concerns that some of the information requested could end up in the wrong hands. The Michigan House filed its lawsuit against Benson in June, arguing that they have a right to review the material to ensure that election officials receive proper training that complies with Michigan election law. Read Article

Pennsylvania voters are rarely hampered by malfunctioning machines, reports show | Carter Walker/Votebeat

Pennsylvania voters encountered only scattered voting-machine malfunctions that rarely affected their ability to cast ballots in recent elections, according to a Votebeat and Spotlight PA analysis of problems reported to the state. Counties reported a smattering of common problems with machines at polling places, such as paper jams and error messages. They typically got such issues fixed quickly by having technicians on call or simply replacing the machine. For election officials, sending out a technician or staffer to a polling place is usually easier and more efficient than trying to walk a poll worker through a fix over the phone, said Forrest Lehman, election director in Lycoming County. Officials refer to these traveling helpers as rovers or roamers. Read Article

Texas election officials concerned about software vendors’ financial scare | Natalia Contreras/The Texas Tribune

A company that makes software used by Texas’ largest counties to manage voter registration data has thrown election officials for a loop again with the departure of two top executives and mixed messages about its financial viability, just months before a critical statewide election. The latest word from Votec Corp.’s chairman is that the company has secured enough funds to continue operating for now. But the California-based company’s dire warnings about a shutdown just days earlier spooked some county election officials, who must now consider whether to try to switch to a new commercial vendor, migrate to a state-run system that they have concerns about, or stick with an unsteady partner in Votec. The uncertainty follows a similar scare last year, when Votec demanded a 35% surcharge from its customers to help it stay afloat. And it comes as election officials prepare for a constitutional amendment election Nov. 4, a potential redrawing of legislative districts and next year’s primary election. Read Article

Texas: Appeals court upholds law requiring ID numbers to cast mail-in ballots | Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney/Politico

A federal appeals court has ruled that Texas may enforce a state law that invalidates mail-in ballots submitted without a voter’s state identification number or partial Social Security number. A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the requirement the Texas Legislature enacted in 2021 as part of an election-integrity bill known as SB1 did not violate a federal law preventing states from imposing voting requirements “not material” to the validity of ballots. Civil rights groups and the Biden administration sued to block enforcement of aspects of the election-integrity measure, arguing that the bill had the potential to disqualify large numbers of ballots that were cast by legitimate voters but might contain minor errors. Read Article

Wisconsin Elections Commission deactivates roughly 192,000 voters during routine maintenance | Mia Thurow/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has deactivated over 192,000 voter registrations through the legally required four-year maintenance process, according to an Aug. 1 press release. The 192,369 individuals deactivated had not voted in the past four years and did not respond to mailing regarding their registration status, said Meagan Wolfe, WEC’s administrator. The commission is required by Wisconsin law to conduct voter record maintenance every two years to identify individuals and deactivate their registration status unless they notify their clerk with a desire to remain registered. Read Article

Democrats try again to revive and expand the 1965 Voting Rights Act | Matt Brown/Associated Press

Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Tuesday to restore and expand protections enshrined in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, their latest long-shot attempt to revive the landmark law just days before its 60th anniversary and at a time of renewed debate over the future administration of American elections. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia unveiled the measure, titled the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, with the backing of Democratic leaders. The bill stands little chance of passage in the Republican-led Congress, but it provides the clearest articulation of Democrats’ agenda on voting rights and election reform. The legislation would reestablish and expand the requirement that states and localities with a history of discrimination get federal approval before changing their voting laws. It would also require states to allow same-day voter registration, prevent voters from being purged from voter rolls if they miss elections and allow people who may have been disenfranchised at the ballot box to seek a legal remedy in the courts. Read Article

National: Cybersecurity tips for state election offices, as federal support dwindles | Colin Wood/StateScoop

A report published last week by the Brennan Center for Justice and the R Street Institute provides states recommendations on how to secure their elections using a “whole of government” strategy, as federal support dwindles. Researchers pointed to the smooth process they observed during the 2024 election that included a decisive victory by President Donald Trump and a prompt concession by Kamala Harris. The numerous bomb threats, cyberattacks and other attempted disruptions were deftly repelled in part thanks to federal support, the report’s authors claim. “That these incidents failed to have a major impact is a testament to the planning, preparation, and response of election officials and law enforcement,” the report read. “Still, these incidents highlight the need for policymakers to double down on their commitment to the election resiliency policies and practices that made 2024 such a success.” Read Article

National: Understanding SAVE immigration database as a tool for election officials | Natalia Contreras/Votebeat

Last week, officials gathered at an Oklahoma City hotel for the annual National Association of State Election Directors conference. Since President Donald Trump took office again, his Justice Department has been sending out letters to states with sweeping requests for information about how they maintain their voter rolls and ensure that only eligible people are registered. Meanwhile, the administration is urging election officials around the country to use an existing federal immigration database called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program for a new purpose: to verify voters’ eligibility. The Department of Homeland Security recently overhauled SAVE to make it easier to search, and free for states to use. Experts have questioned the accuracy and reliability of the data, given how quickly the system changes to SAVE were made this year. They’ve also raised concerns about how the federal government is using data uploaded by states, and whether using the tool outside its intended purpose could put people’ privacy or voting rights at risk. Read Article

National: Federal appeals court restricts who can bring voting rights challenges | Gary Fields/Associated Press

A federal appeals court panel on Monday ruled that private individuals and organizations cannot bring voting rights cases under a section of the law that allows others to assist voters who are blind, have disabilities or are unable to read. It’s the latest ruling from the St. Louis-based 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, saying only the government can bring lawsuits alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act. The findings upend decades of precedent and will likely be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case centered on whether an Arkansas law that limits how many voters can be assisted by one person conflicts with Section 208 of the landmark federal law. The opinion from the three-judge panel followed the reasoning of another 8th Circuit panel in a previous case from 2023. That opinion held that the Arkansas State Conference NAACP and the Arkansas Public Policy Conference could not bring cases under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Read Article

National: Department of Justice Is Said to Plan to Contact All 50 States on Voting Systems | Matt Cohen and Zachary Roth/Democracy Docket

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has said it intends to contact all 50 states about their compliance with federal voting law, a national association of state election officials told Democracy Docket. “As states recently began to receive letters on the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and Help America Vote Act (HAVA) from the U.S.…

National: As Federal Support for Elections Evolves, States Adapt to Close Emerging Gaps | Brenna Nelson/NCSL

The decentralization of U.S. election administration leaves many decisions regarding how elections are run to states and localities, which also foot most of the bill. The federal government does support elections, though, even if most ongoing costs fall to states and localities. “We have seen over the last 25 years, more and more federal support for state and local elections officials,” says Lindsey Forson, deputy executive director at the National Association of Secretaries of State and a panelist in a recent NCSL webinar. That could be changing as the Trump administration enacts its election priorities and shifts resources. Read Article

National: Noncitizen voting remains exceedingly rare, new review finds | Miles Parks/NPR

After President Trump and many other Republicans warned that vast numbers of non-U.S. citizens would influence last year’s election, states and law enforcement have devoted more resources than ever before to root out those ineligible voters. More than six months into Trump’s second term, they haven’t found much. New research out Wednesday tracking state government efforts across the country confirms what election experts have said all along: Noncitizen voting occasionally happens but in minuscule numbers, and not in any coordinated way. “Noncitizens are not a large threat to our election system currently,” said David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR), which conducted the research. “Even states that are looking everywhere to try to amplify the numbers of noncitizens … when they actually look, they find a surprisingly, shockingly small number.” Read Article

National: Trump pick moves closer to leading agency that protects election systems | Ali Swenson/Associated Press

A U.S. Senate committee voted Wednesday to advance President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency that secures the nation’s critical infrastructure, including election systems. Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 9-6 to recommend Sean Plankey ’s nomination for director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, which sits under the Department of Homeland Security. The agency has been dealing with workforce and funding cuts, as well as criticism from Republicans over some of its election-related activities. Read Article

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