It’s the last day to vote in primaries in North Carolina, Texas, and Arkansas. Check out our series where we discuss changes to elections in a variety of key areas since 2024 and how they may impact the midterms here:
The Supreme Court’s Tariffs Opinion Suggest Strong Limits on President Trump’s Attempts to Exert Power over the Administration of Congressional Elections electionlawblog.org?p=154434
DHS doesn’t protect elections by attacking election administrators and promoting partisan legislation. It protects elections by ensuring officials have the tools they need to defend election infrastructure from real cyber threats.
If Secretary Noem wants to strengthen election security, as she claimed during today's press conference, the most effective step would be to restore the partnerships, cybersecurity funding, and information sharing that officials actually depend on.
These setbacks raise the sobering possibility that the United States may enter the 2026 midterms with weakened cyber defenses, strained federal — state partnerships, and a growing disadvantage against foreign adversaries.
Over the last year, budget cuts and policy reversals across the federal government — including at DHS — have weakened the nation’s ability to defend the cybersecurity of election infrastructure, counter foreign information operations, and share intelligence about emerging threats.
The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security held a press conference on election security today that highlights the significant changes in the Agency's approach since 2024. I break down these changes and what they could mean for 2026 in my new analysis ⬇️ cdt.org/insights/cou...
NEW: A federal tool meant to find noncitizens on voter rolls is consistently marking citizens as noncitizens, especially if they were born outside the U.S., causing chaos as election clerks try not to disenfranchise voters, @zachdespart.bsky.social and I found. 🧵 www.propublica.org/article/save...
Section III.C addresses Plaintiffs’ challenges to Section 3(d), which directs the Secretary of Defense to add a documentary-proof-of-citizenship requirement to the “Federal Post Card Application,” a voter registration and ballot request form used by military and overseas voters. The Court concludes that the directive in Section 3(d) exceeds the President’s lawful authority. Applying the presumption that Congress “intends to make major policy decisions itself, not leave those decisions to agencies,” the Court concludes that the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (“UOCAVA”) does not authorize the Executive Branch to add a documentary proof of citizenship requirement to the Federal Post Card Application. See West Virginia v. EPA, 597 U.S. 697, 723 (2022). Instead, UOCAVA manifests the contrary intent of Congress that the Federal Post Card Application should be a straightforward, easy-to- use form and should not require documentary proof of citizenship. Because the Elections Clause assigns sole responsibility for election regulation to Congress and the States, and because the Court cannot assume that Congress has delegated this important power to the Executive Branch
without a clear statement to that effect, the President lacks the authority to direct the addition of a documentary-proof-of-citizenship requirement by executive order. Therefore, the Court concludes that Section 3(d) is inconsistent with the constitutional separation of powers, that it cannot lawfully be implemented, and that Plaintiffs are entitled to partial summary judgment, a declaratory judgment, and a permanent injunction.
NEW: A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has issued the latest court ruling that strikes down parts of President Trump's March 2025 executive order on voting, including a call to change the federal post card application that many military & overseas voters use
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
When Borg was asked by Sec. Fontes about what technical improvements were being made to SAVE to prevent removal of eligible voters, Borg said “Is it a perfect system? No.”
A strong endorsement.
Next up in our "100 ideas" series — New by @isabelalinzer.bsky.social @beccabranum.bsky.social @cdt.org — "Political Influencers and Democracy in the Digital Age"
Part of @nyulaw.bsky.social Democracy Project's "100 Ideas in 100 Days"
Read the full piece here: democracyproject.org/posts/politi...
National news outlets with this big of a platform should really weigh analysis like this with local perspective, which - I promise - comes to the opposite conclusion. This really makes me very sad.
It's happening. OpenAI is piloting ads in ChatGPT. openai.com/index/our-ap...
In introducing ads to ChatGPT, OpenAI is starting down a risky path. (1/5)
New from @aliyabhatia.bsky.social and me on how the US withdrawal from international organizations puts the globally connected, open internet at risk and threatens human rights worldwide: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
If Sean Plankey cannot clearly commit to protecting election infrastructure, his leadership would leave election officials vulnerable and national security at risk.
That uncertainty has already eroded trust and weakened our collective ability to defend elections from cyber and physical attacks.
Over the past year, CISA has dismantled critical election security programs, disrupted information-sharing infrastructure, and left state and local officials without clear guidance or support.
I wrote about these key questions prior to Plankey's original nomination hearing last year. You can read the full article on @cdt.org here: cdt.org/insights/cis...
They should press Plankey to commit to maintaining elections as a critical infrastructure subsector, to release the results of CISA’s election security review, and to clearly state which programs and services election officials can realistically rely on in the run-up to the midterms.
If the Senate moves forward with Plankey’s nomination, lawmakers must demand clear answers about the future of election security at CISA—and they must do so quickly.
Sean Plankey’s re-nomination to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) comes as election officials urgently need clarity about what role—if any—the agency will play in protecting elections ahead of the 2026 midterms.
🎙️ CDT’s Tim Harper on Marketplace breaks down how U.S. political campaigns used generative AI in the 2024 election — so far, more for speed than persuasion, with limited evidence of widespread voter deception.
It's not about drugs, or oil and it's definitely not about democracy.
Donald Trump's assault on Venezuela and capture of Maduro is all about proving the 2020 election was stolen from him—at least according to election deniers and MAGa influencers
www.wired.com/story/electi...
An automatic recount is required under SC law if the margin between the two candidates is less than 1% of the total vote, which would be 34 votes. Based on where things stand now, that puts us in recount territory, since the Republican leads by 21 votes. Such margins are tough to overcome though.
CDT’s @isabelalinzer.bsky.social + @tharper.bsky.social cover past federal attempts, the SAVE system, key legal questions, and potential consequences if voter data is exposed or misused. Read the full analysis here:
White document on grey background.
ICYMI: CDT, the @civilrightsorg.bsky.social, and @protectdemocracy.org released a new analysis on the federal government’s push to access state voter rolls. Why it matters – voter privacy, election security, and the risks of centralizing sensitive data. cdt.org/insights/cdt...
Some registered voters Texas flagged as ‘potential noncitizens’ had provided proof of citizenship
Small changes to the tone of posts fed to users of X can increase feelings of political polarisation as much in a week as would have historically taken at least three years, research has found.
New report alert🚨🚨 Political influencers aren’t quite activists, media, or advertisers. So what are they? How do social media policies and government regulations apply?
🧵 on this transformative trend in democracy and politics:
cdt.org/insights/arc...
I'm attending the @ncslorg.bsky.social Town Hall: 2025 Post-Election Recap and Insights. Join me on November 7.
www.linkedin.com/events/ncslt...
