DOJ, NC propose scheme that could disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters

• The DOJ and North Carolina's GOP-led election board proposed a deal that could disenfranchise almost 100,000 voters in state elections if they don’t provide additional ID information. The agreement would settle a DOJ lawsuit challenging the state’s voter roll maintenance practices.

Cleta Mitchell forecasts Trump’s next anti-voting executive order

• Cleta Mitchell, a prominent anti-voting lawyer who played a key role in Trump’s efforts to steal the 2020 election, suggested Trump might use “emergency powers” to take control of elections.
  
  
• Mitchell said on a right-wing podcast that she believes the president can assert authority over elections when national sovereignty is threatened, “as I think we can establish with the porous system that we have.”
  
  
• Mitchell also said she believes that because some states require ID to vote, the president is empowered to require voter ID for federal elections. In fact, the president has no power to set ID requirements for voters. 

South Carolina court blocks DOJ demand for sensitive data

• A South Carolina voter sued the state’s election commission to stop it from giving the DOJ access to sensitive voter data, including names, birthdates, addresses, and ID numbers. Last night, the court blocked state election officials from sharing voter information with the DOJ.
  
  
• The lawsuit comes as the DOJ pressures states nationwide for voter registration data as part of a broader effort tied to the Trump administration’s push for voter roll purges and its unfounded claims of illegal voting.

Missouri special legislative session begins

• The Missouri legislature started its special session today, called by Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) to redraw congressional districts as part of the GOP’s nationwide scheme to rig the midterms.
  
  
• The session also will include an attack on direct democracy. Kehoe has said he wants lawmakers to also approve a measure to make it harder for voters to pass laws through ballot initiatives.

Election deniers delayed from joining Georgia county board

• Fulton County, Georgia commissioners today tabled a motion to approve two Republican election deniers to the county’s elections board. They are waiting for an appeals court to weigh in on the ongoing legal battle. 

SCOTUS asked to decide if citizens can still enforce key part of Voting Rights Act

• The Supreme Court is being asked to decide if private citizens can still enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) after a federal court ruled that only the government can sue to stop racial discrimination in voting. 
  
  
• If the Supreme Court endorsed that view, it would make the VRA all but useless for stopping racial discrimination in voting during Republican administrations.

Appeals court rejects Trump’s attempt to fire FTC commissioner

• In a major setback for Trump's attempt to purge independent agencies, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block a lower court order reinstating Democratic commissioner Rebecca Slaughter to the Federal Trade Commission. The panel denied the government’s request to suspend Slaughter’s return to office while the case continues.

Coming up tomorrow

• A federal court will hear the Trump administration's request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by 19 states challenging Trump’s anti-voting executive order imposing strict proof of citizenship requirements and targeting states with extended ballot receipt deadlines.