THIS WEEK

California lawsuit aims to block Trump military order
Georgia Supreme Court throws out state election board anti-voting rules
In Arizona lawsuit, DOJ flips to an anti-voting stance

CALIFORNIA

California challenges Trump’s authoritarian military order

Los Angeles residents are continuing to protest arrests made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), even as President Donald Trump escalates the conflict by sending in California National Guard troops and U.S. Marines.

Trump also threatened to arrest Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) – which would have been a major story if we were living in normal times, which we aren’t. And in fact, California Senator Alex Padilla (D) was forcibly removed in handcuffs Thursday from a press briefing held by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

California asked a judge Tuesday for emergency relief to block the use of military force, arguing Trump unlawfully deployed the state’s National Guard over the governor’s objection and violated the Posse Comitatus Act by using the Marines for civilian law enforcement.

“They must be stopped, immediately,” the state asserted in the court filing.

But a federal judge declined the request, instead deciding to hold a hearing Thursday.

Legal scholars warn Trump’s presidential memorandum is asserting broad powers that could be used against any state.

“The idea that you can delegate the Secretary of Defense this authority to deploy the National Guard across the country is a use of these powers that I don’t believe we’ve seen before,” Chris Mirasola, a national security law professor at University of Houston Law Center, told Democracy Docket.

Meanwhile, Newsom’s office has been putting up a good fight on social media. When Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) said in an X post that, unlike California, her state values “order over chaos,” Newsom responded: “Your homicide rate is literally DOUBLE California’s.”

Aside from Trump’s use of military force, a lot is at stake in the protests. Just this week, ICE officers arrested a nine-months pregnant U.S. citizen in the Los Angeles area when she demanded that they show a warrant as they tried to arrest her partner. Read more about California’s lawsuit here.

GEORGIA

Georgia Supreme Court throws out state board’s anti-voting rules

The 2026 midterm election is still a while away, but legal battles that could help determine the outcomes are happening now.

Georgia’s Republican-led State Elections Board (SEB) passed a handful of alarming anti-voting rules last year, among the most ridiculous of which was a requirement for election officials to hand count ballots on Election Day. That’s a conspiracy-motivated change in protocol that has backfired spectacularly for Republicans in other places.

This week, the Georgia Supreme Court held the line, ruling that the board exceeded its authority in passing the controversial rules.

“The SEB can pass rules to implement and enforce the election code, but it cannot go beyond, change or contradict (the law),” Chief Justice Nels Peterson wrote in the court’s order.

It’s a big win for voting rights at a time when the GOP is testing the limits of what they can get away with on voter suppression. The ruling sends a clear message that Republicans won’t be able to use the state board to issue nonsensical, overreaching election rules. At least not in Georgia. Read more about the Georgia ruling here.

ARIZONA

The Department of Justice flips position in an Arizona lawsuit

Pro-voter groups in Arizona have been fighting a state voter suppression law since 2022 – and until recently, they had the Department of Justice (DOJ) on their side.

Under the Arizona law, which created new restrictive proof of citizenship requirements for voting, election officials must reject state voter registration applications if the applicant doesn’t include their place of birth. A trial court blocked the law and the 9th Circuit upheld the decision.

The DOJ filed a brief last year saying the birthplace requirement violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because birthplace isn’t material to determining a person’s eligibility to vote.

But a lot has changed since then. Under Trump, the DOJ has dropped lawsuits protecting voters. Now we’re seeing the agency actually reverse its position and change sides on a lawsuit.

This week, the DOJ filed another brief in the case, this time arguing the complete opposite of its previous stance: The birthplace requirement does not violate the law.

How it started vs. How it’s going:

Arizona officials are asking the full 9th Circuit to rehear the case. Read more about the Arizona case here.

OPINION

The Department of Injustice

It’s flying under the radar for most Americans, but Democracy Docket readers know one of the most alarming changes under the Trump administration is what’s happening at the Department of Justice.

The DOJ has fundamentally changed course to become a partisan agency, which we’re seeing play out in cases like the Arizona voting requirement lawsuit.

The transformation goes far beyond ordinary politics, Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias wrote in his latest opinion piece.

“As we defend our democracy against our own Department of Justice, I’m saddened for our country — but we cannot afford to run from this moment,” Elias writes. Read more here.

NEW VIDEO

Georgia Supreme Court Strikes Down GOP Rules Meant to Delay Election Certification

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the Republican-led State Elections Board (SEB) exceeded its authority in passing a handful of controversial anti-voting rules last year. The unanimous decision by the state’s highest court upholds a lower court’s ruling that temporarily blocked several rules passed by the SEB last year, including ones requiring counting ballots by hand and for voters to provide a signature and ID at ballot drop boxes. Marc and Paige Moskowitz explain. Watch on YouTube here.

What We’re Doing

Democracy Docket reporter Jen Rice learned some surprising things while researching an upcoming story rounding up this year’s major state-level election legislation. So here’s some interesting trivia to try out on fellow voting nerds. Did you know: Missouri doesn't have a process for curing defective mail ballots, Mississippi is one of three states that doesn't offer no-excuse early voting in-person and Virginia is the only state that gives the governor sole discretion to restore voting rights to people convicted of felonies? Now you do.