The Justice Department has intensified its aggressive quest to force states to hand over their voter data — but the rushed effort is being hampered by errors that call into question the competence of the lawyers involved.

Wednesday, December 24

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Hi, I’m Yunior Rivas, Democracy Docket’s breaking news reporter, stepping in for this week’s Eye On The Right while Matt is away enjoying the holiday season!

The Justice Department has intensified its aggressive quest to force states to hand over their voter data — but the rushed effort is being hampered by basic errors that call into question the competence of the lawyers involved. Also in this week’s edition: Tina Peters distances herself from escalating calls for violence to free her from prison, another election denier joins Georgia’s State Election Board as it probes the 2020 election and Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network celebrates a year of attacking voting rights ahead of 2026.

As always, thanks for reading.

Yunior Rivas, breaking news reporter



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Tina Peters distances herself from calls for violence to free her from prison

- In the wake of President Donald Trump’s legally unenforceable “pardon” of Tina Peters — who is serving a nine-year state prison sentence for her role in a voting system data breach — far-right activists have increasingly called for violence ([link removed] ) to secure her release. Jake Lang, a Jan. 6 defendant and GOP congressional candidate, threatened that “US MARSHALS & JANUARY 6ERS PATRIOTS” would “storm” a Colorado prison to free Peters if she is not released by the end of January.

- Far-right influencer Tej Gill urged federal agents to “use force if necessary” to extract Peters from state custody, while Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio warned ([link removed] ) that “a battle is coming.” Far-right podcaster Joe Oltmann went further, declaring that “we are in an insurrection” and threatening that Colorado Gov. Jared Polis “will pay.”

- As the rhetoric intensified, Peters’ attorneys and allies — who manage her social media accounts while she is incarcerated — flatly denounced ([link removed] ) any calls for violence or a “prison break,” saying such statements “misrepresent Tina” and undermine her legal efforts. Polis, meanwhile, reiterated that Trump has no authority to pardon state convictions and that Peters was convicted by a jury and prosecuted by a Republican district attorney.

Anti-voting lawyers at DOJ want your voter data but can’t get basic filings right

- DOJ’s sweeping voter data crusade has been marked ([link removed] ) by persistent incompetence. As it sues 21 states and Washington, D.C., its filings and demand letters have been riddled with embarrassing errors.

- Across cases, DOJ filings contradict one another about who is leading the Voting Section, misspell the names of their own attorneys and misstate election official titles. In one case, DOJ lawyers even left internal drafting comments visible in court filings, revealing ([link removed] ) uncertainty about basic facts, incorrect legal citations and reminders to “fix” unresolved issues — an unfiltered look at a department rushing complex litigation without clearing basic procedural hurdles.

- DOJ’s sloppiness started before its voter data crusade reached the courtroom. Demand letters and proposed agreements repeatedly ([link removed] ) cite laws that do not exist, misname federal statutes and invoke phantom provisions of the U.S. Code. Courts across the country have flagged filing violations, unauthorized appearances and missing paperwork — undercutting the department’s claim that it is competently enforcing election law while demanding unprecedented access to state voter data.

Another election denier joins Georgia State Election Board probing 2020

- Salleigh Grubbs, the first vice chair of the Georgia Republican Party, was appointed ([link removed] ) by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to the Georgia State Election Board — the same body that has revived investigations into Fulton County’s handling of the 2020 election and aggressively pushed new certification rules.

- Before her appointment, Grubbs repeatedly appeared before the board advocating ([link removed] ) for stricter certification requirements and expanded use of hand-marked paper ballots — proposals critics warned could be used to delay or block certification. Grubbs has also helped fundraise for board members facing ethics and records lawsuits tied to those actions.

- Grubbs joins the board amid an ongoing ([link removed] ) investigation into Fulton County’s 2020 election, including subpoenas for ballots and election records that a judge recently allowed to move forward. The board has also sought assistance from the U.S. Justice Department — which has now filed suit to obtain the same materials — further entrenching Georgia as a testing ground for election denial strategies.

Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network celebrates a year of attacking voting rights

- The Election Integrity Network (EIN), founded and chaired by election denier Cleta Mitchell, published ([link removed] ) a year-end self-assessment boasting of its “2025 triumphs” — a sweeping list of efforts to tighten voter registration rules and pressure states to purge voter rolls, all under the banner of “election integrity.”

- EIN touts its leading role in advancing the federal SAVE Act, backing state-level proof-of-citizenship initiatives and coordinating voter roll challenges across battleground states including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona. Many of the cited “wins” rely on unproven conspiracies of widespread noncitizen voting and mirror policies voting rights advocates warn could disenfranchise eligible voters.

- Far from retreating after the failure of efforts to overturn the 2020 election, EIN presents the past year as proof that election denial has matured into national infrastructure — one that blends grassroots activism, litigation and legislative pressure to reshape election rules ahead of 2026.

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