Democracy Docket

The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge brought by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that could determine if state judges can extend polling hours after election-day disruptions threaten voting access — a potentially significant ruling for future elections in the perennial battleground state. The court, however, declined to fast-track the case, meaning it won’t be resolved before the November midterms.

When lawyer and conspiracist Peter Ticktin appeared on far-right commentator Wayne Allyn Root’s podcast earlier this month, he made an alarming suggestion: President Donald Trump needed to seize control over elections from the states. Trump is “going to have to declare martial law,” he said.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is piloting a training program for Wisconsin election observers to identify discrepancies with voting machines, as the GOP piles additional scrutiny on voting processes in the swing state. The new program came to light from private RNC training recordings obtained by the pro-democracy group Fair Fight Action and first reported by CNN.

Mail voting in North Carolina is well underway, but voting rights groups warn some votes may not be counted if two restrictive rules remain in effect. Plaintiffs* fighting North Carolina’s newly passed absentee ballot rules filed Monday for a preliminary injunction (PI) that would block the rules they called “disenfranchising” for the midterms.

A federal judge Tuesday allowed a pro-voting challenge to Louisiana’s proof-of-citizenship voter registration law to move forward, including claims that the law discriminates against voters based on national origin. U.S. District Judge John W.

A prominent election denier whom the Trump administration hired to pursue investigations into election-related conspiracy theories has resigned several months after he failed to find evidence that the 2020 presidential race, which President Donald Trump lost, was stolen. Kurt Olsen, a conspiracy theorist with no prosecutorial experience, left his Department of Justice (DOJ) position Monday, multiple news outlets reported.

Deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the polls is illegal. And it’s deeply unpopular among voters. Nearly half of Americans in a bipartisan sample strongly oppose ICE at polling places, according to a new Numbers/Verasight poll. In the survey of 1,528 adults, 39% also strongly oppose National Guard presence at polls and 44% strongly oppose the military seizing voting machines or ballots.

The Trump administration Monday filed its response to the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) lawsuit seeking records about any plans to seize or inspect ballots, voting machines or other election materials during the 2026 midterms. The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) 13-page answer did not deny that the Trump administration has considered such plans, identify whether responsive records exist or offer a timeline for producing them.

Republican members of the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) adopted a resolution Monday seeking the Trump administration to intervene in a vague crusade against the state’s voting system just weeks before the midterm elections.

A pro-voting lawsuit challenging DHS withholding national security grant funding unless states comply with new election procedure requirements.