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
“Every American – regardless of party or ideology – should be extremely concerned by Trump’s continued use of lies and conspiracy to justify attempts to seize the reins of election administration and hold on to power. That is not democracy, it is attempted authoritarianism.” – Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) on the draft executive order anti-voting group activists, who are allegedly in coordination with the White House, have been circulating.
NOTABLE TRENDS
DOJ Sued 5 More States In Effort to Access Un-redacted State Voter Rolls: The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued five more states for voter data that includes sensitive information such as Social Security numbers:
Kentucky
New Jersey
Oklahoma
Utah
West Virginia
Further escalating its effort to seize voter data in an effort to essentially create a national voter roll, the DOJ has now sued 29 states and Washington, DC. These lawsuits came as reporting indicated that the DOJ is preparing to give Homeland Security Investigators access to state voter roll data to help search for voter fraud.
At Least 3 States Advanced Bills Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote: As the SAVE America Act stalls in the US Senate, for now, a number of states have advanced legislation with proof of citizenship requirements.
In Florida, the state House passed HB 991, which creates new proof of citizenship requirements to vote and removes student IDs as an acceptable form of voter ID.
In Iowa, the state Senate passed SF 2203 to require the Secretary of State to verify the citizenship status of each registered voter using the controversial, federal SAVE database.
In South Dakota, the state Senate passed SB 175 to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote.
STATE ACTIVITY
GA Bill Introduced “Another Voter Suppression Bill” That Could Significantly Change Elections Ahead of the Midterms: State Senator Greg Dolezal (R) introduced SB 568, a bill that could significantly change how elections are run in the state ahead of the November election. The bill would require voters to use hand-marked paper ballots to vote, get rid of county-wide early voting, make the State Election Board in charge of recounts instead of the Secretary of State, and “put teeth into the voter challenge law,” which has already led to thousands of voter challenges in recent years.
Senator Harold Jones (D) said that the bill appeared to be “another voter suppression bill.”
ANTI-VOTING GROUP ACTIVITY
Anti-Voting Activists Said They Are Coordinating With The White House On Draft Executive Order To Declare National Emergency To Ban Mail Ballots And Voting Machines: A group of anti-voting activists are circulating a 17-page draft executive order, dated April 2025, that claims China interfered in the 2020 election as a basis to declare a national emergency that would give President Trump the authority to ban mail ballots and voting machines.
Ticktin, an anti-voting attorney who represents former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, said he has been in contact with the White House about the order.
Sources have also said that Trump has reviewed versions of the draft order and had discussions with those involved with the efforts; however, Trump claimed he had never heard about the order when asked about it. Ticktin stated that the order has “got to be ASAP, because we got primaries.”
EIN Strongly Advocated for the Senate Passage of the SAVE America Act And Even Outlined a Strategy to Get It Passed: The Election Integrity Network (EIN) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R) urging “immediate and full consideration” of the SAVE America Act. The letter is signed by Cleta Mitchell as founder and chair of EIN, a number of state EIN chapters, and multiple other anti-voting groups, including America First Policy Institute, Heritage Action, VoterGA, and Honest Elections Project.
In the letter and a separate Tweet from Mitchell, EIN outlines an exact strategy to pass the proof of citizenship bill through the Senate, including by forcing a talking filibuster, which Mitchell describes as letting “the toddlers have their tantrum.”
although i like proof of citizenship to vote, my concern is for the elderly and shut in. who will help with getting the disabaled and elderly to the polls? mail in voting is a neccesity for them. the new laws will affect many from both parties. when students turn 18yrs old, they need to get an ID from the state. I definately don't agree with gov't having access to ss numbers, once you register to vote you already have sufficent info for ID. our gov't is acting like the gestapo not like a democracy where everyone of age has the right to vote.