Election Law

Recent Developments Impacting Free and Fair U.S. Elections:

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Fri, May 15, 2026:

• The Midterms Ground Has Shifted - NYT

Wed, May 13, 2026:

• Andreessen Horowitz Is Spending on Politics Like No Other - NYT

Fri, May 8, 2026:

• Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Voter-Approved Congressional Lines Favoring Democrats. The state was one of Democrats’ few opportunities to pick up additional seats this fall. - NOTUS

Thurs, May 7, 2026:

• Tennessee Approves New Map Aimed at Flipping the Last Democratic Seat

  After a Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Republicans carved up a majority-Black Memphis seat as the national redistricting wars continue. - NYT

Wed, May 6, 2026:

• Republicans and Democrats are locked in a redistricting battle for the ages, and there’s bipartisan complaining about different parts of the process. But the two parties are a long way from a truce, and redistricting is looking more like a biennial exercise than a once-a-decade event. - Roll Call

Mon, May 4, 2026:

• Trump Administration Demands Names of 2020 Election Workers in Georgia

  The Justice Department again appears to be using the investigative power of the federal government to rehash debunked claims that Democrats stole the 2020 election. - NYT

• Supreme Court clears way for Louisiana to redistrict ahead of midterms

  The order expedites the state’s redistricting process, which could grant the GOP an additional House seat. - Politico

Wed, April 29, 2026:

• Supreme Court Strikes Down Louisiana Map, Another Blow to Voting Rights Act. The court struck down the voting map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in a move that could make it harder for lawmakers to create majority-minority voting districts. - NYT SCOTUS opinion

Fri, April 24, 2026:

• Why these midterms will be different from the last time Trump tried to overturn an election… On the surface, the threat to the 2020 and 2026 elections looks similar: A would-be autocrat in the White House, facing the prospect of a sharp rebuke at the ballot box, laying the groundwork to try to overturn an unfavorable election. But there’s a big difference between 2020 and 2026: This time, the entire apparatus of the federal government will be turned towards the goal of aiding Trump’s election interference. - Substack

• Senate Republicans Bench Trump’s Voting Bill. - NOTUS

Thurs, April 23, 2026:

• America is vulnerable to electoral vandalism. Too many no longer believe elections are fair. - Economist

• Virginia Supreme Court sets oral arguments on redistricting. Attorneys likely will spar over a swath of issues on the validity of the referendum process. - Roll Call

• House Republicans Clash With ActBlue as Investigation Intensifies - NYT

Wed, April 22, 2026:

• Virginia judge blocks certification of redistricting referendum. Commonwealth attorney general vows to appeal the decision. - Roll Call

• Six takeaways from Virginia’s vote to boost Democrats in national redistricting war. The measure puts Democrats ahead in the battle for the House, but attention now shifts to Florida, where Republicans could regain the gerrymandering advantage. - WP
  The gerrymandering back-and-forth was initiated by President Trump’s demand for 5 more GOP seats in Texas. Status: The push resulted in better lines for the GOP in five districts in Texas, two in Ohio and one each in Missouri and North Carolina. Democrats responded by persuading voters to approve new maps that would give Democrats the edge in five seats in California and four in Virginia. In addition, a court approved a new map in Utah that could give Democrats one district…Attention now shifts to Florida, where Republicans are considering drawing new lines that would give them a leg up in two or more additional districts. That would put them ahead of Democrats in the national fight over gerrymandering.

Sun, April 19, 2026:

• DOJ demands Detroit-area 2024 ballots, escalating election scrutiny

  DOJ official Harmeet K. Dhillon wrote that she is seeking ballots to investigate election law compliance. Democratic state officials call the request baseless. - WP

• Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) on this week’s Virginia gerrymandering voter referendum, on “Fox News Sunday”: “We’re deeply worried that Donald Trump will try to interfere with the election results this November or in 2028, because we saw him do it before. And we have to have a Congress that will stand up to it. In 2021, all five Republicans in Virginia went along with Donald Trump in his effort to overturn election results. And so we’re giving Virginians a chance to vote — which Republican states have not done — about whether they want to have a congressional delegation that will stand up against Donald Trump’s tyranny if he tries to interfere with our elections.” - Politico

Wed, April 15, 2026:

• Lawyer John Eastman Disbarred for Efforts to Overturn 2020 Election - NYT

Sun, April 12, 2026:

• ‘It would be catastrophic’: A Supreme Court decision could upend Alaska’s crucial Senate race. A Supreme Court decision could bar late-arriving mail ballots and potentially disenfranchise thousands of Alaskan voters in a race that could determine Senate control. - Politico

Fri, April 10, 2026:

• Feds subpoena Texas counties for voters’ records - News From the States

Wed, April 8, 2026:

• Why You Won’t Know Who Is Funding the Midterms. A lot of the money flowing into the political system is ultimately untraceable. - NYT

Tues, April 7, 2026:

• President Trump, his administration and G.O.P. lawmakers have claimed widespread issues with mailed ballots and fraudulent voting, but the evidence doesn’t support them. - NYT

Wed, April 1, 2026:

• Democrats sue to block Trump’s ‘unconstitutional’ mail ballot order - News from States

Tues, March 31, 2026:

• Trump Signs Order Seeking Federal Control of Mail Voting as He Promotes False Claims. Election experts and Democratic officials called the order legally invalid, and Democrats quickly sued over it. - NYT

Sat, March 28, 2026:

• Robert Mueller, lawyer and former FBI director, 1944-2026. A long public career found its zenith with his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. - FT

Fri, March 27, 2026:

• Senate to stay on SAVE after recess - Roll Call

Thurs, March 26, 2026:

• President Trump on Thursday defended his use of mail-in voting, saying he cast a ballot by mail recently “because I’m president” and “I had a lot of different things” to do, even as he tries to restrict the practice for most Americans. - NYT

Tues, March 24, 2026:

• Trump casts Florida mail ballot as he pushes Congress to severely limit that voting option - AP

Thurs, March 19, 2026:

• GOP debate on SAVE America Act morphs into ‘circular firing squad’ - Hill
  Senate Republicans say the debate within their conference over how hard to push for passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, a sweeping voting reform bill, is becoming a “circular firing squad” as President Trump’s allies ramp up pressure on their GOP colleagues to use extraordinary tactics to pass the bill. Trump and his allies are warning that if Senate Republicans don’t pull out all the stops to pass the bill, they will face the wrath of MAGA voters.

Wed, March 18, 2026:

• Following Trump, Republicans in Congress Propose to Ban Most Voting by Mail - NYT

Tues, March 17, 2026:

• Republicans are launching a voting bill debate that could last days or even weeks - AP

• What’s in the Voter ID Bill Trump and Republicans Are Pushing? The legislation would require voters to prove their citizenship in person upon registration, ban IDs without a photo at polling places and criminalize failures to enforce such requirements. - NYT

• Senate Republicans today launched their effort to suppress voter registration drives through President Trump’s “SAVE America Act.” For details on the House-passed version of the bill, see this nonpartisan bill summary on FactCheck.org. According to the analysis:

• The Bipartisan Policy Center analyzed the 2024 Survey on the Performance of American Elections conducted by the MIT Election Data + Science Lab and found that 12% of registered voters lacked either a passport or a birth certificate along with a government-issued photo ID — the most common ways people would prove citizenship under this bill.

Wed, March 11, 2026:

• Thune Is in a Vise as Trump and Far Right Demand Fight on Voter Bill

  The majority leader is getting pounded for not pushing hard enough, but he says the votes just aren’t there to circumvent the filibuster. - NYT

Tues, March 10, 2026:

• Trump says his bill would ‘guarantee the midterms.’ House Republicans are moving on. GOP leaders are not leaping to take immediate action on a new version of the SAVE America Act. - Politico

Mon, March 9, 2026:

• Trump administration subpoenaing Arizona 2020 voting records, as Trump pushes to consolidate election power. The administration has also obtained records from Fulton County, Georgia, as Trump continues to focus on the 2020 election he lost. - Politico

• Trump says he won’t sign other laws until election bill reaches his desk.

  President meets with House GOP in Miami - Roll Call

Thurs, March 5, 2026:

• Texas AG Ken Paxton (R) suggested Thursday that he would be open to dropping out of the hotly contested Texas Senate primary against Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) if Senate Republicans met several conditions. - Hill

  Paxton said he would consider exiting the race if Senate leadership eliminated the filibuster and passed the SAVE America Act that would require voters to show proof of citizenship in order to vote in addition to a photo ID requirement to cast a ballot. However, Paxton’s conditions were quickly shot down by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) who said he didn’t have the votes to eliminate the filibuster.
  Background.—Democrats say the bill would disenfranchise large numbers of eligible voters by imposing strict documentary proof‑of‑citizenship and in‑person registration rules that many people cannot meet, including an estimated 21 million citizens who lack the required documents such as passports or easily accessible birth certificates. They argue the bill effectively targets low‑income voters, people of color, students, seniors, people with disabilities, women who changed their names, rural residents, overseas citizens, and service members who rely on mail or online registration. They contend that non‑citizen voting is already illegal and extremely rare.

Thurs, Feb 26, 2026:

• Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency

  Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting. - WP

• Virginia Dems back new map. - Punchbowl News

Wed, Feb 25, 2026:

• Push for a ‘talking filibuster’ stalls in Senate GOP conference. Despite pressure, leadership hasn’t budged on their disapproval, warning of a monthslong suck of precious floor time. - Roll Call

Sat, Feb 21, 2026:

• Senate G.O.P. Faces Pressure to Force ‘Talking Filibuster’ for Voter ID Bill. Some reluctant Republicans say an old-school filibuster showdown with Democrats could paralyze the Senate with no guarantee of success. But President Trump and their own colleagues are spoiling for the fight. - NYT

Thurs, Feb 19, 2026:
How California Is Damaging Faith in Government - NYT

Wed, Feb 18, 2026:
GOP sidesteps Trump’s mail voting demands - Politico

Mon, Feb 16, 2026:
Debunked election claims behind Fulton County search spark new questions for Gabbard - Hill

Fri, Feb 13, 2026:
Trump floats executive order on voter ID if SAVE Act stalls in Senate - Hill
Virginia Supreme Court allows redistricting special election to proceed. Republicans are challenging Democratic push to create 10-1 congressional map. - Roll Call

Tues, Feb 10. 2026:
Republicans are pushing to drastically change the way you cast ballots. Explaining the SAVE America Act, which is getting a vote this week. - WP
FBI cited debunked claims to obtain warrant for Fulton County voting records, documents show. The FBI told a federal judge that it is investigating whether any “deficiencies” in Georgia officials’ handling of the 2020 presidential election were intentional. - WP

Mon, Feb 9, 2026:
Trump has a plan to steal the midterms... The nightmare scenario for American democracy is no longer unthinkable. - Vox

Sat, Feb 7, 2026
Why Trump’s Calls to ‘Nationalize’ Voting Have Raised Midterm Fears. The president has escalated his language as his administration takes steps to involve itself more in election matters. - NYT

Tues, Feb 3, 2026:
Trump Repeats Call to ‘Nationalize’ Elections, as White House Walks It Back. President Trump’s extraordinary comments were the latest iteration of his unsubstantiated claims that U.S. elections are rigged as Republicans face potentially big losses this fall. - NYT
Top Republicans throw cold water on ‘nationalizing’ elections - Roll Call

Mon, Feb 2, 2026:
Trump, in an Escalation, Calls for Republicans to ‘Nationalize’ Elections - NYT
Not only was National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard at the scene of the Trump administration’s extraordinary raid on a Democratic-leaning Georgia county’s election center last week, but the New York Times reports she put FBI agents on a call with Trump himself, during which he gave them a “pep talk.” - NYT

Wed, Jan 28, 2026:
Move to Seize Ballots Thrusts F.B.I. Into Trump’s Election Conspiracy Claim. F.B.I. agents searched a Fulton County, Ga., election center for ballots from 2020, escalating an investigation of a heavily Democratic jurisdiction the president has criticized over his defeat. - NYT
Search warrant FBI served at elections office near Atlanta seeks records tied to the 2020 elections - AP

Mon, Jan 12, 2026:
Trump is trying to change how the midterm elections are conducted. Many of these endeavors go far beyond typical political persuasion, challenging long-established democratic norms. - WP

Sun, Jan 11, 2026:
Trump Regrets Not Seizing Voting Machines After 2020 Election. In an interview, the president said he should have ordered the National Guard to take the machines to find evidence of fraud, but added that the Guard might not have had the sophistication to do so. - NYT

Sat, Jan 3, 2026:
Thousands of mail-in ballots could be discounted under new post office policy. The Postal Service is no longer guaranteeing when it will postmark mail, which could jeopardize some ballots that arrive after Election Day. - WP

Fri, Dec 5, 2025:
The Supreme Court is allowing next year’s elections to be held under Texas’s congressional redistricting plan, favorable to the GOP and pushed by President Donald Trump – AP

Wed, Nov 26, 2025:
New prosecutor won’t pursue charges against Trump and others in Georgia election interference case –AP

Tues, Aug 19, 2025:
Trump’s proposal to give himself more control over elections – WP
President Donald Trump is trying to ban mail-in voting and potentially voting machines and take control of how states administer their elections. Election experts say what he’s proposing is a possibly illegal and unconstitutional effort to change the way Americans vote, and they warned that it threatens free and fair elections.

Wed, July 16, 2025:
DOJ hits states with broad requests for voter rolls, election data. Election clerks in both parties, already facing harassment and lawsuits over Trump’s false 2020 election claims, worry about efforts to examine voting machines. – WP

Thurs, April 24, 2025:
Judge halts Trump push for proof of citizenship to register to vote; Congress and the states — not the president — have authority to regulate federal elections, opinion says – Roll Call
Judge halts parts of Trump’s overhaul of US elections, including proof-of-citizenship requirement – AP

Wed, March 26, 2025:
Trump Is Trying to Gain More Power Over Elections. Is His Effort Legal? A far-reaching executive order aims to reshape the country’s voting laws, is sure to be challenged in court and reflects the president’s concerted push to expand his power. – NYT

Thurs, Feb 20, 2025:
Trump dismantles office fighting foreign influence in U.S. elections – NYT

Thurs, Feb 6, 2025:
Trump shuttering specialized FBI team combating foreign election interference threats – CNN