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.
  
  
• The ruling marks the end of a battle spurred by Bianco's pursuit of debunked claims of a massive ballot discrepancy.
  
  
• California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said Bianco will face “legal consequences.”
  
  
• And the ruling shut down the roadmap for rogue law enforcement to create midterms chaos in California.

➤ More on the win for voters

Missouri Republicans try to make state Supreme Court the villain of gerrymander fracas

• While the near-yearlong battle was deliberately dragged out by GOP officials, the party is now collectively shifting blame to the same scapegoat: the Missouri Supreme Court.

➤Why they’re trying to blame the state’s top court

Pennsylvania starts voting under federal scrutiny

• Pennsylvania has been a target of Trump's since before he claimed "bad things happen in Philadelphia" during a 2020 presidential debate.
  
  
• Now, voters in the swing state have begun casting ballots — but they're doing so under a federal microscope with pivotal contests on the November ticket.

➤ Here’s what we’re watching

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

• A total of 12 Texas swing voters weighed in on the James Talarico/Ken Paxton race. They were asked, “When you hear the name Ken Paxton, what comes to mind?” Spoiler, these are not nice words.
  
  
• In more positive Texas news, a Black mother of three facing five years in prison for submitting a provisional ballot should be free for good now after a state court rejected Tarrant County’s request to review her case.
  
  
• This morning the White House denied access to three media outlets even though a judge ordered the Trump administration to restore it. Later Thursday, Politico, CNN and MS Now were allowed into the White House. Good.
  
  
• We liked this spicy footnote out of today’s California ruling: In his preliminary briefing, Bianco challenged petitioners’ standing based on misquoted passages from, and an incorrect recitation of our holding in [a case]. The law firm responsible for the error apologized and withdrew Bianco’s standing argument. We disapprove of the improper use of artificial intelligence tools, which apparently contributed to the significant error that occurred here and remind counsel of attorneys’ professional duties of competence and candor to the court. We also refer the matter to the State Bar of California to determine whether discipline is warranted.