Supreme Court revives DHS use of flawed immigration database for voter purges

• In a major loss for voters, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority allowed the Trump administration to initiate voter roll purges using a flawed database involving Americans' private data.
  
  
• The ruling will disproportionately impact naturalized citizens who've been wrongly flagged in the system. A total of 27 states voluntarily use the modified system.
  
  
• Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson blasted the conservative majority. "The harm caused by burdening...lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the government experiences," she wrote.
  
  
• Marc broke it all down in a video.

➤ What SCOTUS did

With the ruling, the Supreme Court signals path to weaken key protection against last-minute purges

• Today’s decision also suggests the justices may be eager to weaken one of federal law’s most important safeguards against last-minute voter purges, the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period, which prohibits states from conducting “systematic” voter removal programs 90 days before a federal election.

➤ Read the deep dive

DOJ refuses to say if Trump intends to release federal voter eligibility lists before midterms

• In a key court hearing today, a Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney refused to tell a federal judge if the Trump administration intends to move forward with plans to identify all people eligible to vote in the upcoming midterms using vast amounts of personal data held across the federal government. “That is very concerning,” the judge responded.

➤ Why the judge was worried

DHS noncitizen voter claims unravel in Nevada as state confirms flagged voters are citizens

• Nevada said that 185 voters in the state identified by DHS as noncitizens were, in fact, citizens — and the agency appeared unwilling to substantiate its claims.
  
  
• The revelation is the latest evidence that the Trump administration's ongoing effort to identify alleged noncitizens is built on utterly erroneous data.

➤ More on the debunked claims

Texas election workers scramble after registration snafu leaves thousands of voters off rolls

• Tens of thousands of voters in Texas are not on county rolls because the state incorrectly processed their voter registration applications.
  
  
• Now, county election officials are left with the burdensome task of updating voter rolls until Oct. 19, when early voting begins in the state.

➤ Read the full story

The local prosecutors who fought ICE are ready to combat federal election interference

• Days after ICE fatally shot Alex Pretti, local Virginia prosecutor Steve Descano got a call to join attorneys banding together to help bring charges against the federal immigration agency.
  
  
• Months later, Descano and his colleagues are working overtime to prepare for the threat of ICE at the polls.

➤ What the lawyers are doing

Voting rights lawsuit prompts South Dakota to fix ‘confusing’ proof-of-citizenship system

• A federal judge denied a voting rights group’s request to block part of South Dakota’s new proof-of-citizenship voting system after the state changed its voter notices and gave the group much of what it had asked for.

➤ Why this is a win for pro-voters

Over half a million voters registered in a single day last week

• At least 550,000 voters registered or updated their registration last week, according to final tallies the nonpartisan nonprofit National Voter Registration Day shared exclusively with Democracy Docket.

➤ Read about the massive signup

Delaware absentee ballot law greenlit for midterms

• The Delaware Supreme Court fast-tracked a decision late Monday to uphold the state’s permanent absentee ballot law, allowing eligible voters to use the balloting method in this fall’s midterm elections.

➤ More on the win in Delaware

California Supreme Court orders GOP sheriff to return seized ballots

• The California Supreme Court ruled that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R) violated state law when he seized approximately 650,000 ballots from last year's redistricting referendum. California’s attorney general said Bianco will face “legal consequences.”
  
  
• The ruling shut down the roadmap for rogue law enforcement to create midterms chaos in California.
  
  
• Plus, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a sweeping package of election laws that includes a measure making it a felony to seize ballots, election records or voting technology before an election is certified.

➤ More on the win in California