In an ominous sign, USPS initially rejected a Florida county’s mail ballot over a spacing issue

• When the Postal Service rejected a Florida county’s mail ballot envelope design, it offered a test case for just how disruptive Trump’s efforts to restrict mail voting could be this November.
  
  
• The agency rejected a county’s envelope under USPS’s rule implementing Trump’s order because the words “return service requested” and the election office’s return address were only 0.236 inches apart — when there should have been a full quarter-inch between them.

➤ More about the “ridiculous” rejection

Trump’s latest plan to rig the congressional map for Republicans long after he’s gone

• Trump is playing the long game in his efforts to gerrymander Republicans into power by any means necessary, even when he’s no longer in office.
  
  
• His administration proposed a set of changes to the 2030 census that would for the first time exclude non-U.S. citizens from the population count — which would end up giving more congressional seats to red states.

➤ Inside Trump’s long game

The Postal Service said it would launch its mail ballot portal this week. Where is it?

• Nearly a week after its statement to a federal judge — USPS’s online portal that’s crucial to enforcing and complying with its new mail voting restrictions is nowhere to be found.

➤ Where’s the portal?

Civil rights group and city of Denver ask court to block any plans for armed federal agents at polls during midterms

• Armed federal agents are planning to patrol voting locations during elections, and the courts need to act now to stop it from happening, a new lawsuit from civil rights organizations and the city of Denver alleges.

➤ Inside the lawsuit

Republicans in Texas county can’t swap voting maps between primary and general election, state Supreme Court says

• The Texas Supreme Court blocked Galveston County Republicans from switching local voting maps between the primary and November election, rejecting an unprecedented strategy to maximize partisan advantage at voters’ expense.

➤ More on the state Supreme Court’s decision

The Supreme Court could use the ‘Purcell principle’ to save Trump’s attack on mail voting. But will it?

• Election Day is just under two months away. But voters still don’t know for certain whether they will be able to cast their ballots by mail. That question is now in the hands of SCOTUS.

➤ Learn more about the Purcell principle

Watch Marc live: Sorting through Missouri and SCOTUS

• Marc is hosting a special live episode to break down the latest developments as the Supreme Court decision on mail voting could drop any time. He’ll also talk about the recent SCOTUS win for Missouri voters. Check it out now.

➤ Watch Marc live

GOP’s failed Missouri power grab offers a nationwide warning

• “The chaos in Missouri shows, once again, that Republicans will undermine state courts, defy laws approved by voters, and do whatever it takes to gerrymander election districts or otherwise gain an electoral edge,” Billy Corriher of the People's Parity Project writes in a new op-ed.

➤ Read the op-ed

Supreme Court won’t revive Missouri gerrymander before midterms

• In a big win for voters, Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied Missouri Republicans’ appeal of a state Supreme Court order barring state officials from moving forward with the GOP’s new congressional gerrymander in this year’s election.
  
  
• Two days later, SCOTUS affirmed that it wouldn’t revive Missouri’s gerrymandered map.

➤ More on the SCOTUS denial

Delaware upholds rights for permanent absentee ballot voters, rejecting GOP challenge

• A Delaware court rejected a GOP-led challenge to restrict the option used most widely by overseas voters and those with disabilities.

➤ Why this is a win in Delaware

Court refuses to reinstate Ohio GOP’s voting restriction during appeal

• In a win for voters, a federal judge refused to let Ohio election officials enforce the state’s proof-of-citizenship voter registration law while the state appeals an earlier ruling blocking the restriction. The decision keeps the law on hold as a key registration deadline approaches.

➤ What you need to know about the law