Plus, a disgraced GOP operative drove voting place cuts in North Carolina. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

Friday, August 21

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By Andrew Wyrich · Newsletter Editor

Hello, pro-democracy readers! We’ve got a busy newsletter today. Buckle up.

 

In a Democracy Docket exclusive, reporter Yunior Rivas found that President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) appears to have hired a lawyer who pleaded guilty to illegally hacking government election websites — and he just took part in election monitoring in Minnesota.

 

This is an example of a story no one else is covering — and exactly why you read Democracy Docket every day. Give it a read.

 

Meanwhile, a GOP operative who resigned from a staff job with North Carolina’s election board has had a major influence on recent plans to cut voting opportunities in the state. Also, don’t forget to check out the good news of the week at the bottom of the newsletter.

 

All that and more is on the docket today. See you next week!

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Exclusive: Trump DOJ appears to have hired lawyer convicted of hacking election sites to check ‘integrity’

  • A Florida lawyer who pleaded guilty after illegally accessing government election websites appears to have joined Trump’s DOJ — and taken part in a recent election monitoring operation in Minnesota.

  • The apparent hiring of David Michael Levin would be among the most troubling examples yet of the department’s Civil Rights Division bringing on lawyers who have taken extreme steps to undermine fair elections.

  • Levin’s involvement in election monitoring could offer a hint of the kind of personnel who will staff the operation this fall, when the DOJ has said it will send 1,000 monitors to the polls.

➤ Read our exclusive report

 

Democrats sue Trump DOJ for records on potential ballot seizures in midterms

  • The DNC is seeking records about any plans to seize ballots, voting machines or other election materials before the 2026 midterms are certified.

  • The lawsuit accuses the DOJ of violating the Freedom of Information Act by failing to turn over records the DNC requested in February. It stems from the FBI’s January raid on the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Georgia.

➤ What’s in the Democrats’ lawsuit?

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Disgraced GOP operative drove voting place cuts in North Carolina

  • Dallas Woodhouse, who resigned from the State Auditor’s office after texts revealed how he pressured counties to change early voting plans to benefit Republicans, came up repeatedly as the North Carolina State Board of Elections reviewed counties’ early voting plans.

  • Despite his departure, several county-level Republican voting officials said Thursday that Woodhouse was behind their plans to limit Sunday voting and oppose polling sites on college campuses. More broadly, he was a driving force behind their efforts to curtail voting opportunities.

➤ More on Woodhouse’s influence

Also in North Carolina: Election board denies voting site at nation’s largest Black university for second time

  • The board once again refused to provide an accessible early voting location at North Carolina A&T State University, the nation’s largest historically Black college or university.

  • With student activists in the front row, the GOP-controlled board rejected their pleas for an on-campus polling place in November’s general election during a vote yesterday.

➤ More on the board’s denial

 

Right-wing group loses bid to block new trial in Colorado voter intimidation suit

  • A federal appeals court is giving pro-voters a second chance to prove a Colorado “election integrity” group unlawfully intimidated voters.

  • Pro-voting groups accused the United States Election Integrity Plan (USEIP) of intimidating voters by showing up at individual voters’ houses to ask who they had voted for, taking pictures of their homes and making allegations of voter fraud.

➤ About the upcoming trial

 

9th Circuit junks GOP lawsuit challenging Nevada’s mail ballot grace period

  • The court tossed a Republican lawsuit challenging Nevada’s grace period for mail ballots today, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Watson v. Republican National Committee.

  • The ruling puts an end to a challenge first brought in 2024 that would have made it more difficult for Nevadans to be certain their mail ballots will be counted.

➤ How did the court rule?

Arkansas Supreme Court rejects bid to save direct democracy ballot initiative

  • The bid would have put an initiative on the ballot this November that would bar state lawmakers from amending or repealing voter-approved measures like constitutional amendments adopted by voters.

  • The move comes after the GOP rejected 20,000 of the 108,000 submitted petition signatures over an administrative error.

➤ Why this is a loss for voters

 

Trump-appointed federal prosecutor’s retaliatory subpoenas cannot go forward, appeals court rules

  • A federal appeals court ruled John Sarcone III’s subpoenas against New York Attorney General Letitia James are invalid because Trump appointed him illegally.

➤ Read more about the court’s 2-1 decision

 

Texas appeals court won’t block GOP-led county from changing voting maps after primary

  • A Texas appeals court denied an emergency effort to stop Galveston County from using new voting districts in the November election, allowing the GOP-led county’s plan to change its map after the primary to move forward for now as the general election approaches.

➤ Read the latest from Galveston County

 

ICYMI: Video of the Chick-fil-A voting argument

  • Yesterday, we reported on how a GOP county board member in North Carolina invoked Chick-fil-A’s policy of not being open on Sunday as a reason to scale back weekend voting. It was odd.

➤ Watch the video

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Court strikes down age-based mail voting restrictions

  • The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found that South Carolina’s mail voting rules violate the 26th Amendment by giving voters 65 and older no-excuse absentee voting while forcing younger voters to meet extra requirements.

➤ Why the law violates the Constitution

 

North Carolina governor vetoes sweeping GOP anti-voting measures

  • Gov. Josh Stein (D) vetoed a Republican elections bill that would have shortened early voting, expanded opportunities to challenge ballots and increased voter roll maintenance.

➤ Read about the governor’s veto

 

9th Circuit disqualifies Trump loyalist as top Nevada prosecutor

  • The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Trump ally Sigal Chattah was unlawfully appointed to lead the U.S. attorney’s office in Nevada, rejecting an effort to bypass Senate confirmation rules.

➤ More on the unlawful appointment

 

Trump DOJ voter roll crusade suffers 23rd loss

  • A federal judge dismissed the Trump DOJ’s lawsuit seeking Minnesota’s unredacted voter rolls, marking the department’s 23rd district court loss in its nationwide voter data campaign.

➤ Womp womp

 

Court tosses right-wing Wisconsin voter roll lawsuit

  • The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a right-wing group’s lawsuit seeking access to Wisconsin’s voter registration lists.

➤ More on the tossed lawsuit

Today's newsletter was edited by Matthew Kupfer, Zachary Roth and Maya Bodinson, and produced by Andrew Wyrich. Additional reporting by Yunior Rivas. Learn more about our staff here.

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