Blue states urge Supreme Court to uphold block on Trump’s anti-mail voting order

• Almost two dozen Democratic-led states asked the U.S. Supreme Court today to uphold a block on Trump’s sweeping attack on mail voting, saying it poses “extraordinary threats to our democracy.”
  
  
• The states, and Washington, D.C., warned that lifting the block now “would allow the federal government to rush out an unprecedented, legally indefensible voter-verification and ballot-interception program that would, among other things, give the U.S. Postal Service far-reaching new powers and responsibilities.”

➤ More about their warning of “extreme” consequences

Maryland Democrats take first step toward 2028 redistricting with special session

• The redistricting wars are not over. Maryland lawmakers convened today to take the first steps toward redrawing the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2028 presidential election.
  
  
• The Democratic-controlled legislature’s goal is to eliminate the state’s only GOP-held district to counter Republican gerrymanders in Texas, Florida and other states.

➤ Why Maryland joined the redistricting wars

Court blocks Trump ban on voter registration help for new citizens

• A federal judge today blocked the Trump administration’s ban on nonpartisan groups helping newly naturalized U.S. citizens register to vote. He found the 2025 policy from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to be likely driven by intentional discrimination against new citizens.

➤ Read about the judge’s ruling

Michigan election officials prepare for Trump DOJ to monitor primary elections

• Ahead of tomorrow’s primary elections, the state is preparing for federal election monitors to keep watch over voting in three majority-Democratic municipalities.
  
  
• Local election chiefs say the Trump administration is already trying to undermine trust in the election by targeting the Great Lakes State with debunked claims of voter fraud.

➤ Why local officials are dismissing the DOJ’s claims

GOP senators sign off on corrupt immunity deal from IRS audits for Trump and sons

• Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to formally lead the Department of Justice (DOJ) appears to be back on track after two Republican holdouts — Sens. John Cornyn (Texas) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) — signed off on a deal that gave Trump and his sons immunity from past audits by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
  
  
• The two senators said they would not move forward with Blanche’s nomination until the acting attorney general promised to terminate the president’s “anti-weaponization fund,” which the DOJ established to settle Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.

➤ The latest on Blanche’s nomination

With 92 days until the midterms, everyone is capitulating to Trump

• With the 2026 midterm elections three months away, the word of the week is capitulation. In today's episode of “Election Watch,” Marc discusses why Tillis and Cornyn changed their stance on supporting Blanche as attorney general and much more.

➤ Catch the latest “Election Watch” episode

Missouri GOP wants voters to restrict their own power to change state constitution

• Republicans are asking voters to approve a measure in tomorrow’s primary election that would limit Missourians’ ability to propose and vote on amendments to the state’s constitution.
  
  
• The timing isn’t a coincidence. GOP lawmakers are actively fighting to prevent voters from using their constitutional right to veto a partisan gerrymander passed by the legislature.
  
  
• Missouri, unlike many other states, gives voters the power to make changes to the state’s constitution by gathering signatures to put a ballot measure to a statewide vote. If enacted, Amendment 4 would make it significantly more difficult for such citizen-led measures to pass.

➤ What to know about Missouri

Watch the trailer for our exclusive documentary, ‘Truth vs. Troost: Kansas City, gerrymandering and the fight for representation’

• Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) is likely about to throw out the will of Missouri’s voters. Before he does, we went to Kansas City to show what happens when a community gets gerrymandered out of power and stripped of its right to petition. This is what democracy looks like when it’s under siege — and what it takes to fight back.
  
  
• “When we received word of the Callais decision, it was like time stood still,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), who served as Kansas City’s first Black mayor. Watch the trailer for our exclusive documentary on how the Supreme Court’s Callais decision is reshaping representation in Missouri and beyond. It comes out later this week. Stay tuned!

➤ Watch the trailer

Virginia restores voting rights for 66,000 people with past felony convictions

• Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) announced that she restored voting rights for 66,085 people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to vote due to past felony convictions.
  
  
• It’s a dramatic reversal of former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s tenure, during which he restored the voting rights of fewer than 10,000 people with past felony convictions across his entire four-year term.

➤ More on Spanberger’s decision

Kamala Harris: The Voting Rights Act won’t be revived ‘any time soon’

• Harris said figuring out how to restore the hobbled Voting Rights Act (VRA) is not something that voters and lawmakers should be focused on right now, citing the makeup of Congress and the way the legislative branch has “been treating civil rights issues.”
  
  
• The former vice president said she was still “hopeful” that the VRA could be restored at some point.

➤ What else did Harris say?

After brutal Illinois defeat, Trump DOJ’s voter roll crusade is 0 for 19

• The ruling extends DOJ’s district court record in its nationwide voter-data crusade to a brutal 0-19, just a few days after a federal judge dismissed its New Jersey case.

➤ The latest on the Trump DOJ’s losing streak

Here we share noteworthy briefs on all things voting rights and democracy. Have a footnote for us? Send it to newsletters@democracydocket.com.

• Everyone knows Trump’s poll numbers are bad. But golly, we really should be listening to the “REAL” polling numbers, the president said in his latest rant on Truth Social.
  
  
• Honestly, given the circumstances, this might be a winning campaign slogan for Democrats in swing states.
  
  
• The anti-voting right’s latest obsession? New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani requiring IDs for his city-run grocery stores. Apparently, according to some people and the press, this has something to do with Trump’s anti-voting SAVE America Act. Yawn.
  
  
• Trump shared the cartoon-designed cover of Newsweek International… but probably didn’t understand the meaning of it.