New lawsuit alleges Wisconsin’s congressional map violates state constitution

• Wisconsin voters sued the state’s Elections Commission, claiming the congressional map violates the state constitution by discriminating against Democratic voters and is “antithetical to virtually every principle necessary to sustain a representative democracy.”

Amid Epstein fallout, Trump says Obama is guilty of treason

• President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of treason over baseless claims that Obama tried to organize a “coup” against Trump in 2016. The accusation comes as pressure mounts over Trump’s mishandling of Epstein-related documents.

House Republicans hold voter suppression hearing with anti-voting lawyers

• House Republicans held a hearing today designed to boost the Trump administration’s crusade for further tightening voting rules. The panel gave a platform to leaders of two top anti-voting legal and advocacy groups to spread misinformation about voting. 

Trump is getting millions from 60 Minutes, CBS, and Paramount — a stark reminder that disinformation and intimidation are alive and well. Every time he tests the system, we dig in deeper. Help Democracy Docket stay two steps ahead with a premium membership for $120/year.

North Carolina, RNC team up on new rule change to restrict student voting

• North Carolina election officials changed election rules to ban the use of digital voter ID for UNC Chapel Hill students and staff, settling a lawsuit brought by Republicans. It’s the latest move from the GOP-led board to tighten voting rules.

Texas Democrats threaten walkout over GOP redistricting push

• Texas Democrats are threatening to skip a special legislative session if Republicans push a Trump-backed redistricting plan before flood relief. The plan could potentially add up to five new GOP-leaning districts.
  
  
• Leaving little time for the traditional public input process, Republicans have scheduled three in-person public hearings in the House and four virtual hearings in the Senate beginning this week – even though they haven’t released a draft of the map for Texans to comment on.
  
  
• State Rep. Trey Martinz Fischer (D) said Democrats are skeptical of a process that includes only a handful of public meetings for a redistricting process that will change a map that serves 31 million people and 254 counties.

Battle over private right of action continues

• Alabama and 14 GOP states filed a brief in a North Dakota legislative redistricting case arguing no private right of action exists under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The states claimed private individuals should not be able to enforce Section 2: "Congress did not clearly intend to hand millions of plaintiffs these weapons of political warfare."
  
  
• The pro-voting plaintiffs are asking SCOTUS to pause a ruling finding no private right of action under Section 2. The pause would effectively keep the court-ordered map in place for the upcoming election while the plaintiffs ask the court to review the 8th Circuit's decision.

A loss for Wyoming voters

• A federal court dismissed a pro-voting lawsuit challenging the state’s documentary proof of citizenship requirement for voter registration due to plaintiff’s lack of standing.

SCOTUS may let the GOP gerrymander Black southerners out of Congress

• With the midterms hurtling closer and the Republican majority at risk, Trump is pressuring GOP state lawmakers to gerrymander congressional maps – as seen in the Texas update above – eliminating districts that elect people of color and silencing Democratic voters.
  
  
• And if recent Supreme Court decisions are any hint, our nation’s highest court won’t be stepping in to protect voters of color. In fact, it could take steps to further weaken protections against racial bias in the redistricting process, Democracy Docket guest author Billy Corriher writes.