Homeland Security officers are illegally accessing state voter data, whistleblower alleges

• DHS agents unlawfully accessed state voting records to carry out the department’s escalating elections-related probes, an anonymous federal whistleblower recently disclosed.
  
  
• A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services directive that led agents to misrepresent themselves as voters on state election agency websites to view voting records will likely result “in thousands of violations of state laws,” Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-Calif.) office warned.
  
  
• In response to the new whistleblower claims, more Democrats warned against what they called the latest Trump administration move to “rig the election” by illegally accessing voter data.

➤ What did the whistleblower say?

An election worker tried to protect mail ballots. Now he faces prison

• Amid Trump's ongoing attack on voting is a push to make probing election crimes a top priority — a message heard loud and clear by state prosecutors.
  
  
• Meet Joey Norris, an Iowa election worker who's facing five years in prison for trying to protect ballots in the 2024 election. And read his exclusive comments to Democracy Docket.

➤ Why an election worker was charged

Second judge halts Trump’s election power grab, barring states from voluntarily working on mail voting rule

• States cannot voluntarily work toward meeting the USPS’s new mail voting requirements after a second judge said the requirements likely overstep the post office’s authority.
  
  
• In another win for voters, a Trump-appointed federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in favor of Democrats who challenged the rule as an unconstitutional power grab.
  
  
• Of course, the Department of Justice (DOJ) almost immediately asked SCOTUS in a filing Monday to lift the new injunction.

➤ Read about the latest order

Trump admin offers no evidence of election fraud in court battle over mail voting restrictions

• The judge noted that DOJ has not offered any evidence whatsoever that fraud would flourish without the USPS rule. That seems like a problem for its claim that Trump’s executive order on mail voting and the Postal Service’s rule carrying it out are urgently needed to protect the legitimacy of American elections.

➤ Read about the lack of evidence

Helpful for you: When does your state mail ballots to voters?

• With 50 days until Election Day, some states have already begun to send out mail ballots, but a pending ruling from the SCOTUS on Trump’s attempt to restrict mail voting could put those and other mail ballots at risk.
  
  
• Democracy Docket created a list so readers like you can find out when your state is supposed to mail ballots to voters.

➤ See your state’s information here

Missouri voters seek $80 million in damages after Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ redistricting debacle

• The class action lawsuit was brought by five voters seeking to represent roughly 162,000 people who signed onto a petition to trigger a referendum on the ballot this November to overturn the map.
  
  
• The lawsuit is yet another embarrassing setback for Hoskins (R), who was held in contempt last week for defying the Missouri Supreme Court, which had barred him from using the gerrymandered congressional map for the general election.

➤ More on the class action lawsuit

GOP-led early voting restrictions compound in Minnesota city

• Early voting in Oak Grove, Minnesota could be more challenging this year. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city’s request to overhaul part of Minnesota’s election system and use paper poll books instead of the electronic ones most poll sites across the state use.

➤ What’s happening in Minnesota?

Mississippi’s mail ballot receipt deadline affirmed by federal appeals court after pivotal Supreme Court ruling

• A federal appeals court formally put back into effect a ruling allowing Mississippi to count mail ballots that arrive after Election Day.
  
  
• The ruling — issued by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — is the final word in the GOP’s lengthy legal battle to ban mail ballots that arrive after, but postmarked by, Election Day.

➤ What does the ruling mean?

Attorney general said Trump’s ‘weaponization fund’ was dead. Now DOJ is appealing

• The DOJ told a federal judge it’s appealing a scorching court order against Trump’s attempt to sue himself to create an almost $2 billion fund for his political allies.

➤ Read what the DOJ said

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

• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was featured during a college football broadcast over the weekend (for whatever reason). However, he was interrupted during his appearance with very loud chants of “Ted you suck!”
  
  
• Honestly, I don’t think I’m funny enough to make a better headline, so here it is, via NBC News: “Thirst traps for democracy: Content creators go risqué to recruit people to work the polls”
  
  
• I thought I’d end today’s newsletter with something fun. A 7th grader won an “I Voted” sticker contest in Ulster County, New York (where I went to college!), with a sticker that features a blue creature on it and “I voted” in red letters. It rules. I wish they gave it out when I voted there. He reportedly hopes that his sticker “makes voting more exciting!” Check out this super cool design: