Democracy Docket

BREAKING: In a victory for voters, the U.S. Supreme Court denies an appeal from Montana officials seeking to reinstate two voter suppression laws. The state wanted SCOTUS to use the radical independent state legislature theory to overturn a decision from the Montana Supreme Court.

SCOTUS Declines to Hear GOP Request in Montana Voter Suppression Lawsuit

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"There are 60,000 voters who did everything they're supposed to do, and my opponent wants their ballots to be tossed."

North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs sat down with @marcelias.bsky.social to explain what's happening in the state Supreme Court race. Watch the full interview.

North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs on Her GOP Opponent's Attempt to Toss 60k Ballots

YouTube video by Democracy Docket

A federal judge ruled that DOGE has no right to access sensitive personal information at various government agencies, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, banking and income information and more.

Judge Says DOGE Has No Right To Sensitive Personal Data Held By Federal Agencies

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BREAKING: Wake County Superior Court judge denies North Caroline Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s (R) request to overturn his 2024 election loss by tossing out over 60,000 lawfully cast ballots.

North Carolina Judge Rejects GOP State Supreme Court Candidate’s Bid To Throw Out 60K Ballots

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NEW: Over 300 civil rights groups sent a letter to U.S. senators urging them to vote against Pam Bondi’s confirmation to attorney general, citing her extensive record of opposing civil rights and anti-voting activities.

Hundreds of Civil Rights Groups Oppose Pam Bondi’s Attorney General Nomination

Read more here.

NEW VIDEO: Are we in a constitutional crisis? Not yet — but we're on the precipice of one, @marcelias.bsky.social says.

Watch the full video now: youtu.be/untZXAal3oU

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Rep. Jayapal: "If you try to eliminate birthright citizenship, jail people for free speech, slash funding, use Cold War-era regulations to do mass deportations, then yeah. You're going to get nationwide injunctions. So maybe if you don't like the injunctions, stop doing the illegal stuff."

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BREAKING: In a 51-42 vote, the Virginia House advances a measure proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to redraw its congressional map until 2030 “in response to actions taken by another state.”

Virginia House Advances Democratic Plan to Counter GOP Gerrymandering

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New Jersey Sen. @corybooker.com is on the Senate floor, saying, "I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able" to protest President Trump and Elon Musk.

Watch live: www.c-span.org/event/us-sen...

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Sen. Cory Booker breaks the record for the longest Senate floor speech, passing former Sen. Strom Thurmond's 24 hr, 18 min filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

As Sen. Booker neared the record, he invoked the late Rep. John Lewis and called on the Senate to get into "good trouble."

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🚨NEW: A federal judge out of Oregon has issued a sweeping rebuke of the DOJ’s nationwide push to seize state voter rolls.

The opinion released Thursday concluded that the department can no longer be presumed to be acting in good faith and warned that its conduct threatens voters and states’ rights.

Federal judge rules DOJ can ‘no longer’ be trusted in voter roll crusade

The judge pointed to a letter from Bondi to Minnesota that tied federal immigration enforcement to demands for voter data as the smoking gun.

BREAKING: Federal judge rules that Trump's firing of Hampton Dellinger, the head of a key federal whistleblower agency, was illegal. The judge has ordered the Trump administration to recognize Dellinger as the head of the Office of Special Counsel.

Federal Judge Says Trump Exceeded Authority in Firing Head of Watchdog Agency

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NEW: Georgia removed nearly 471,000 voters from its rolls last summer — roughly 6% of all the state’s registered voters.

Now voting rights groups are suing, arguing the state is illegally hiding records about how the purge was carried out.

Voting rights groups sue Georgia for refusing to release voter purge records

Without full access to the records, plaintiffs say they cannot determine whether eligible voters were wrongly removed.

NEW: Two voters, with support from the ACLU, sue Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for failing to call special elections to fill vacant seats in the state legislature. The plaintiffs argue that DeSantis is in violation of the Florida Constitution and state law.

🚨 Laimont v. DeSantis

Learn more.

CISA – a federal agency that helps secure elections from foreign threats and disinformation – has placed its employees on administrative leave. The move puts the security and integrity of elections in the U.S. at risk.

CISA Puts Election Staff on Administrative Leave

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A coalition of more than 300 civil rights groups signed a letter to every senator urging them to vote against Pam Bondi's confirmation as attorney general. The letter outlines her long record of anti-voting activities and opposing civil rights.

Hundreds of Civil Rights Groups Oppose Pam Bondi’s Attorney General Nomination

Read more here.

BREAKING: In a massive win for democracy, a Utah judge struck down the GOP’s gerrymandered congressional map.

Utah voters demanded fairer maps and politicians must now deliver.

Utah Strikes Down Gerrymandered Map, Reinstates Voter-Approved Redistricting Reforms

Read more here.

BREAKING: Pennsylvania judge denies request from GOP Senate candidate David McCormick and RNC to toss out nearly 1,000 provisional ballots in Philadelphia. These votes will be counted.

🚨 In re: Provisional Ballot Sufficiency Determination and Provisional Ballot Challenge Hearing of the November 5, 2024 Election

Learn more.

1. 🧵"If you are taking seats from Black people...then you are a thief."
Baton Rouge civil rights activist Gary Chambers said the quiet part out loud Friday as GOP lawmakers push to wipe out Louisiana’s majority-Black districts.

See the heated exchange👇

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Sen. Alex Padilla blocked GOP efforts to pass the SAVE Act, calling it an attack on voter access. He’s pushing new legislation to expand registration, fight Trump’s anti-voter order and defend free elections.
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Padilla: “Democracy Is Not A Spectator Sport”

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The message from the DOJ is unmistakable: Justice is no longer the objective.

Retribution is.

BREAKING: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released.

Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com

NEW: A federal judge ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the Maryland man who was wrongly removed from the U.S. and sent to El Salvador without due process by the Trump administration — to be released from an ICE detention center, ruling his detention unlawful.

Judge Orders Abrego Garcia's Immediate Release from Immigration Custody

Read more here.

In a win for voters, a federal judge ruled that a Pennsylvania law rejecting mail-in ballots simply for missing a correct, handwritten date on the outer security envelope violates the Constitution.

Pennsylvania Must Count Undated Mail-In Ballots, Federal Court Rules

Read more here.

🚨BREAKING: A federal judge dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit demanding Massachusetts’ unredacted voter rolls.

The ruling marks its fourth consecutive loss of 30 active cases seeking access to sensitive voter data from states. https://bit.ly/4mhdfeq