Democracy Docket

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Leading digital news platform covering voting rights, elections, and the courts — from an unapologetically pro-democracy standpoint. Founded by @marceelias

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NEW: Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon announced “we’re going to have ICE surround the polls come November,” and told Democrats they’re not going to “steal the country again.” The comments come amid rising concerns that Trump is plotting to interfere in this year’s midterms.

NEW: Trump said if Republicans in Congress pass the suppressive SAVE America Act, which would disenfranchise millions of Americans if passed, the party will not lose a race “for 50 years.” His comment marks the latest in a string of concerning statements disparaging American election security.

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Republicans say the DOJ’s effort to collect voter data from all 50 states and D.C. is just an effort to screen out noncitizens or people who have died. “That’s a bunch of bullshit,” Marc E. Elias says. Want to cut through the BS? It’s what we do every day:

Anti-voting lawyer Cleta Mitchell believes there’s now a legal avenue to kill early voting — even though the Supreme Court soundly defended it in a ruling this week. Her words are a stark reminder of the GOP’s relentless pursuit to abolish almost any form of voting that expands access.

Trump’s DOJ doesn’t seem to care about any threats to the U.S., Hillary Clinton says. All the DOJ cares about is going after Trump’s perceived enemies – and they’re not even trying to hide their corruption. If you're sick of the abuse of power, join our fight against it:

📬 Return to Sender: David Steiner. The postmaster general said USPS would refuse to deliver mail ballots in any state that won't hand over its voter lists to the Trump administration. But, as Senator Gary Peters points out, the Constitution is clear: states run elections — not the feds.

‼️ USPS will not deliver mail ballots unless states hand over their voter lists to the Trump administration, according to Postmaster General David Steiner. “You are going to make a decision that people cannot vote by mail,” Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said. “That’s unacceptable.”

Trump wants to create a national database of every registered voter in the country. Then, he and the GOP want to decide who gets to stay on it. “It’s a way of essentially taking over the voter registration process,” Marc Elias says, “or, more precisely, taking over the results.”

We are winning on the issue of voting by mail, Marc E. Elias says. But Trump will keep weaponizing the government against voting. “A president who thinks he is going to win the elections on the merits is not constantly talking about how he is going to undermine the elections.”

The Supreme Court’s decision to allow states to count ballots that are postmarked by Election Day is a big victory. But there’s more work to do, Marc Elias says. Want to be part of the movement to protect American democracy? We can help with that:

"The kind of threats that you hear coming out of Donald Trump should scare every American because with an authoritarian, you never know what side of the bed they'll wake up on." — Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Trump believes he has the power to weaponize the U.S. Postal Service to restrict voting. Marc Elias and his law firm are already challenging that notion in court. “[The Trump administration has] come up with a scheme that is so unbelievably unconstitutional and authoritarian.”

For the GOP, the battle against mail voting is purely a matter of partisan advantage — the pool of so-called "late-received" ballots skews young, minority and Democratic. Today, the Supreme Court rejected Republicans’ scheme to disenfranchise voters. Today, democracy won.

‼️ Two ICE agents confronted a poll worker at a voting site in Syracuse during the state’s primaries earlier this week. Now, local election officials say they’re alarmed as far-right figures continue to call on Trump to deploy federal agents to polling places for the midterms.

⚠️ FACT: Stationing ICE agents or National Guard personnel at voting sites is a tactic clearly meant to intimidate voters and influence election outcomes. Yet Steve Bannon and other prominent MAGA figures are pushing for ICE to be at your voting site this November.