Hello, pro-democracy readers! President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is being sued for records about its “unprecedented” plan to deploy roughly 1,000 federal monitors to polling places this fall. Meanwhile, Trump is begging the GOP to vote by mail… You know, the thing he’s constantly claiming is fraudulent. Hypocrisy alert much?

We’ve got a jam-packed newsletter for you today (including some fun news in the Democracy Footnotes section). So buckle up. See you tomorrow!

With Voting Rights Act gutted, Supreme Court vacates discrimination finding against Washington map

• The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) today threw out two pro-voter decisions in cases related to Washington’s legislative redistricting, sending them back to a lower court for new proceedings in light of the Court’s decision earlier this year in Louisiana v. Callais.
  
  
• That was the ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act. Monday’s decision was the latest evidence that the landmark civil rights law is now essentially useless for stopping racial gerrymandering.

➤ Read about SCOTUS’ order

Judge declines to block New Hampshire student ID ban for midterm election

• A federal judge allowed the state’s new ban on using student IDs for voting to remain in place for this fall’s general election. But the judge also barred the state from enforcing a directive that prohibits state election officials from accepting a student ID as a valid form of identification to vote.
  
  
• That means: If a voter has no other way to prove their identity to vote, an election official can still consider a student ID as part of the evidence that he or she is qualified to vote.
  
  
• Still, the complexity and confusion could act as another barrier to voting for students, who already face more than their share of hurdles.

➤ What this means for student voters

Early voting starts in California and Maine. Here’s what you need to know.

• Californians are voting amid an unusually turbulent fight over how ballots are cast, delivered, counted and protected.
  
  
• Early in-person voting begins in Maine today, with one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate races in the nation on the line.

➤ What we are watching

Voters sue to block Tarrant County, Texas polling site cuts targeting minority communities

• The lawsuit accuses Republican officials of intentionally making it harder for Black and Hispanic residents to vote by eliminating dozens of Election Day polling places.

➤ What does the lawsuit say?

Trump praised the speed of Brazil’s elections. They’re actually his nightmare

• In a social media post, Trump said he wanted to know why Democratic-led states can’t run elections like the Brazilians. There’s just one glaring problem.

➤ Why Trump is missing the obvious issue

Judge to rule on Trump’s bid to create voter eligibility lists before midterms

• A federal judge is set to rule on Trump’s effort to use vast amounts of Americans’ personal data to create state-by-state lists of people eligible to vote in federal elections, after being fully briefed on the legal arguments for and against Trump’s “State Citizenship Lists.”

➤ Where the case stands now

Georgia election board wants DOJ to investigate nonpartisan voter roll maintenance program

• Georgia’s GOP-controlled election board asked the DOJ to investigate a leading nonpartisan voter roll maintenance program.
  
  
• It’s part of the board’s ongoing effort to cast doubt on the state’s voting machines.

➤ What you need to know in Georgia

Montana court blocks onerous mail voting law that led to thousands of rejected absentee ballots last year

• The decision is a victory for disability advocates who argued that the requirements increased the likelihood that valid ballots cast by those with difficulty getting to a physical polling place would be rejected on technicalities.

➤ Read about this win for voters

Supreme Court expansion is ‘a concerted effort to intimidate the court,’ Justice Alito says

• In a Fox News interview, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, one of Trump’s staunchest allies on the Court, rejected the growing chorus demanding reforms at the high court, saying the current justices are actually victims of intimidation.
  
  
• Alito said Democrats’ calls to expand the Court are a political attempt to influence the justices’ decisions.

➤ Read more about Alito’s interview

GOP bid to scrap Kansas mail ballot grace period fails again

• In a win for voters, a Kansas appeals court denied the state’s latest request to revive a GOP-backed law that would throw out mail-in ballots received after Election Day, even if they were cast on time.

➤ Why this is a win for voters

Today's newsletter was edited by Sally Holtgrieve and Dave O’Brien, and produced by Leila Fusenig. Learn more about our staff here.