Trump and the rest of MAGA are already pushing conspiracies about Michigan mail voting

• It didn’t take long after polls closed in Michigan’s primaries for Trump and prominent MAGA figures to start spreading false claims of mail voter fraud.
  
  
• Michigan’s Senate race could determine control of the chamber, so it’s no surprise the president and top election deniers are already trying to undermine faith in the state’s elections.

➤ Inside the seeds of doubt MAGA is planting

More from Michigan: Democrat who combats Trump’s lies advances, but so do election deniers in Republican primaries

• Mike Rogers — a former U.S. congressman who has mused about putting law enforcement at the polls and claimed a 2024 election was stolen from him by fraud — won Michigan’s Republican primary for an open U.S. Senate seat.
  
  
• Meanwhile, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D), an opponent of Trump’s anti-voting agenda, won the Democratic nomination to be the state’s next governor. She’ll face off against Rep. John James (R), who opposes virtually everything she stands for.

➤ What to know about Michigan’s primary elections

Missouri voting advocates sue after redistricting referendum rejected

• Missouri voters fought for nearly a year to put the state’s GOP-driven gerrymander to a statewide referendum vote in November. But Republicans have thrown roadblocks in their path at every turn, even as the battle enters its final weeks.
  
  
• Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) yesterday rejected the referendum petition after delaying his decision for months until the final deadline — part of the GOP’s strategy of running out the clock on opponents’ efforts to stop the map. Hours later, voting advocates sued.
  
  
• In more positive news, Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have limited their ability to pass amendments to the state’s constitution. That proposal fueled extraordinarily high voter turnout in yesterday’s election.

➤ What to know about the lawsuit

Texas county quietly plans to swap voting maps between its primary and November election

• In what could signal an alarming new precedent, a Texas county revealed it plans to move some local candidates to new districts under a revised map drafted between the primary and general elections.
  
  
• That means the candidates some voters will see on their November ballots will be different from those voters selected in the primary just months ago.
  
  
• In an emergency petition asking the Texas Supreme Court to block Galveston County from implementing new maps, pro-voting plaintiffs warned that the maneuver is a dangerous test that, if not stopped, could be repeated elsewhere across the state to undermine the will of the voters.

➤ What the hell is happening in Texas?

Jan. 6 prosecutors urge Senate to stop confirming Trump’s election-denier nominees

• A group of 12 former federal attorneys sent a letter today to the Senate addressing the dangers of appointing judicial nominees to lifetime seats who refuse to state, when asked, that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

➤ What did the letter say?

Democrats warn Trump admin against promoting last-minute voter purges as ‘quiet period’ begins

• Democratic senators warned the Trump administration not to push states into conducting mass voter purges during the “quiet period” — the 90-day window before an election when federal law bars systematic removals — which began today.

➤ Why the DOJ should stop its “unlawful attempts” at voter purges

Maryland Republicans threaten lawsuit to block vote on Democrats’ redistricting plan

• Lawmakers in Maryland approved a constitutional amendment that would give voters the final say on redrawing the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2028 election. The plan is aimed at countering GOP gerrymanders in other states.
  
  
• But the GOP intends to “get this into the court as soon as we possibly can to try to put any type of delay that we can,” a state legislator said.

➤ The latest in Maryland’s pushback in the gerrymander war

Urging Supreme Court to greenlight Trump’s mail voting order, DOJ seizes on New Jersey registration glitch

• It’s the latest example of the Trump administration or GOP aiming to exploit the state’s error, which led to noncitizens being added to the state’s voter rolls.

➤ What did the DOJ try to argue?

North Carolina Republicans send sweeping voting restrictions to governor’s desk

• The House voted 62-46 to concur with the Senate’s changes to an expansive elections measure that Democratic lawmakers warn will erect new barriers for eligible voters.
  
  
• The result would be to shorten the early voting period for primaries, make it easier to challenge ballots, and reshape how voter disputes are handled.
  
  
• Gov. Josh Stein (D) has said he will veto the measure, but the GOP intends to try to override his veto.

➤ What’s happening in North Carolina?

A Minnesota city is suing the state. Why? Conspiracy-fueled opposition to election software

• All but three Minnesota counties use electronic poll books. Anoka County is in the majority that relies on the secure method for tracking voter names and information on a roster.
  
  
• But the city of Oak Grove doesn’t want to follow the 2018 countywide agreement that keeps voter rosters electronic. The city instead favors paper rosters, a method championed by election skeptics, which has not been used in most of the state or country for years. Poll books speed up lines at voting sites, ensure accurate data collection and provide more privacy when voters check in before voting.
  
  
• The banning of poll books, a conservative dogwhistle, was floated in May by prominent election conspiracist Cleta Mitchell and her Election Integrity Network.

➤ Why this matters for the whole country

Wisconsin’s mail voting system violates the ADA, judge rules

• Wisconsin’s mail accommodations for voters with disabilities violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, a state judge ruled today – but he stopped short of endorsing the electronic voting system the plaintiffs preferred.

➤ What the ruling in Wisconsin means

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

• Joanna Whaley, who won a primary Tuesday, may become Michigan's first transgender state representative. Good news!
  
  
• In the latest example of a disturbing trend, a district judge who ruled against the Trump administration’s plans is receiving death threats and intimidation.
  
  
• Goodness. Is Tucker Carlson going to run for president? I think I need to sit down.
  
  
• On the subject of nightmare scenarios, Laura Loomer says she’d like to be the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
  
  
• This conservative definitely has never bought a banana in his life, right?
  
  
• Mike Lindell, the election-denying “My Pillow Guy” (or “Pillow man” according to Trump) who is running for Minnesota governor, went on a “lunatic rant” about the 2020 election and a host of other things during a candidate forum.