Trump allies seize on New Jersey registration error to advance their anti-voting agenda

• A software failure improperly registered roughly 6,600 people who told New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission they were not U.S. citizens, since 2023. The mistake led to fewer than 400 noncitizen votes being cast — about 0.005% of all votes cast in the state during that period.
  
  
• But of course, Republicans and Trump officials used the error to demand sweeping new voting restrictions.

➤ Why Republicans are obsessed

In other New Jersey news… a federal judge dismissed the RNC’s voter roll grab

• In a win for voters, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee (RNC) seeking to force New Jersey to release sensitive voter data.
  
  
• The judge determined the RNC lacked standing to bring its case under the National Voter Registration Act’s public-disclosure requirements after it tried twice to access voter roll information from the state.

➤ What did the judge say?

Voting rights groups ask federal judge to again block Trump’s mail voting restrictions

• The coalition filed a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction earlier this week seeking to prevent the USPS from implementing Trump’s executive order attacking mail voting.
  
  
• The request is the latest legal maneuver in a multi-front battle against the executive order, which would make it more difficult for Americans to vote.

➤ What did they ask?

Election chiefs fear long-term damage from Trump’s EAC firings

• Election officials told Democracy Docket that Trump’s shocking move to dismantle the EAC could do long-term damage to the agency by severely kneecapping its ability to provide crucial support for states in running elections.
  
  
• “Without the EAC there in a leadership role, or potentially cut off at the knees, I do have concerns about the long-term fate of election administrators. Who’s looking out for those concerns?” Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas (D) told Democracy Docket.

➤ More of our on-the-ground reporting

Voting rights groups seek to shut down voter purge database in four GOP-led states

• The groups asked a federal appeals court this week to stop Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Indiana from using the Trump administration’s expanded SAVE database for mass voter screenings.

➤ Here’s what they asked

Election deniers are running for Arizona’s most powerful offices in high-stakes primaries

• Arizona voters are headed to the polls today for primaries that could help determine whether one of the country’s most important battleground states continues resisting Trump’s attacks on elections.
  
  
• Extremist anti-voting candidates are running for the GOP nominations for governor, secretary of state and attorney general.

➤ Here’s what we’re watching in Arizona

Your driver's license won't pass Trump's voter ID test

• Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin admitted it: Real ID doesn't prove citizenship. In his most recent video, Marc breaks down the 15-word slip that exposed the real goal of Trump's voter ID push.

➤ Watch the full video

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

• I haven’t been to Olive Garden since I was like 13 years old, so I can’t verify the strictness of their never-ending pasta policies, but Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) proclaiming a chain restaurant has more restrictive photo ID policies than voting is just really bizarre. As our reporter Jacob Knutson quipped: “Photo ID for extra parm.”
  
  
• If you are reading this newsletter, you know the Supreme Court made some bad decisions over the past few months. You are not alone in feeling that way. More than half of Americans disapprove of how the Court is doing its job, and 46% believe its rulings are based on Trump’s policies and not the law, according to a new poll.
  
  
• Ken Paxton, Texas’ election-denying attorney general who won the GOP nomination for Senate, abruptly left a press conference after he was asked about the numerous scandals he’s involved with. His team apparently only wanted to answer questions about “law enforcement.”
  
  
• We were tagged in this image on Instagram, so we wanted to share it. Couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Thanks @karinschall!