Bad News Weekly: July 18, 2025
Welcome to Bad News Weekly, your rundown of key attacks on voting rights and independent elections across the country – it’s a way to keep up with what the opponents of democracy are up to. We’ll highlight some of the worst anti-voter efforts, with a spotlight on the South, the original frontline in the fight for voting rights, and still its fiercest.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“his is the 2020 playbook on steroids… This all is part of a bigger ploy to further undermine our voting in this country.” – Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) on the DOJ and its allies’ efforts to access voter data and voting equipment.
NOTABLE TRENDS
Over 30% of Election Officials Reported Experiencing Threats, Harassment, or Abuse: According to the Brennan Center’s 2025 survey of local election officials, 38% percent of election officials reported that they had been threatened, harassed, or abused, largely consistent with the 2024 survey. Just over half of election officials reported that they were very or somewhat concerned about the safety of their colleagues or staff with roughly a quarter saying the same about their family or loved ones being threatened or harassed.
Anti-Voting DOJ & Allies “Launched a Multipronged Effort to Gather Data on Voters & Inspect Voting Equipment," Sparking Concern About Interference: The Department of Justice (DOJ), which has shifted from protecting voting rights to implementing anti-voting priorities, has recently asked at least 10 states (AK, CO, FL, MN, NV, NH, NY, OK, RI, WI) for copies of their voter lists. Two states, CO and FL, have provided the DOJ with data that is generally available to the public, while most of the other states said they were reviewing the request. In CO, Jeff Small, a consultant who has worked for members of Congress including Rep. Lauren Boebert as her chief of staff, has contacted 10 to 12 GOP county clerks by phone or text, claiming that he was working with the Trump administration and asking the clerks if they would allow the federal government or a third party to physically examine their election equipment, which is not allowed under state law. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) is investigating the calls. These efforts come as nearly half of election officials reported they were worried about politically motivated investigations and over half worried about political leaders interfering with election officials’ jobs.
STATE ACTIVITY
Colorado • Man Arrested for Allegedly Firebombing Election Equipment in Archuleta County Clerk’s Office: William Wayne Bryant, a 71-year old Archuleta County resident who once ran for sheriff, was arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail into the Archuleta County Clerk’s office. Bryant appeared to have targeted the room where the county’s Dominion voting machines are stored. According to the arrest affidavit, Bryant had previously “expressed his continued dissatisfaction with the Dominion Voting Machines” and pushed for the county to stop using its voting machines and move to a hand count. No one was hurt in the attack, but it has forced the closure of the offices and displaced nearly 30 county staff. “Election officials now are wondering, why do I still do this if my office is going to get firebombed by a Molotov cocktail?” said Matt Crane, the head of the CO County Clerks Association, on the attack.
Georgia • State Election Officials Began Purge of Almost Half a Million Voters, One of the Largest in U.S. History: On July 10, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office mailed letters to 478,000 voters whose registrations will be canceled unless they respond or contact local election offices within 40 days. The purge of nearly half a million voters is one of the largest in US history and amounts to 6% of the state’s registered voters. In Ware County, the purged voters represent roughly 11% of the registered voters. The voter purge includes voters who appear to have moved out of state, had election mail returned as undeliverable, or have not voted recently. According to an analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Black voters are disproportionately targeted by the voter purge in comparison to white voters.
ANTI-VOTING GROUP ACTIVITY
RNC Says Anti-Voting Litigation Was Part of Their Strategy Ahead of 2026 Midterms: In an email to Votebeat, Republican National Committee (RNC) national press secretary Kiersten Pels stated that litigation such as the lawsuit recently filed in AZ targeting the eligibility of overseas voters who have never lived in the country was “absolutely part of [their] strategy heading into the midterms.” Gina Swoboda, the AZ GOP chair and the RNC’s “election integrity chair,” said that she would encourage the party to sue every state that has a similar law to AZ’s. In IN, the RNC filed a brief urging the court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging IN SB 10, which banned the use of student IDs for voting. In NJ, the RNC filed a lawsuit against the state’s Division of Elections, claiming that it unlawfully withheld public records related to voter list maintenance and voting machine audit logs from the June primary.
Paid for by Fair Fight Action.