Welcome to Fair Elections Alert, your rundown of key attacks against voting rights and independent elections across the country over the past week. It’s a way to keep up with what the opponents of democracy are focused on. We’ll highlight critical updates you need to be aware of, with a spotlight on the South, the original frontline in the fight for voting rights.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“When elections are chaotic, people don’t feel confident. And when people don’t feel confident, they don’t participate. That is not election integrity. It’s voter suppression.” – Georgia Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D) on HB 960, which would overhaul the state’s election system months before the November midterms.
NOTABLE TRENDS
DOJ Close to Finalizing Deal to Give State Voter Roll Data to DHS: According to sources with direct knowledge, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is close to finalizing an agreement to share sensitive voter data its Civil Rights Division collected from states with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Homeland Security Investigations. The agreement could involve the creation of a system to let officials submit queries to match voter data with DHS databases. The White House has reportedly also been involved in the discussions about the agreement.
At the same time, Oklahoma settled the DOJ’s lawsuit against the state and agreed to share private voter data it previously refused to release.
The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office received a grand jury subpoena ordering it to turn over certain individual voter records for an investigation being run by DOJ and DHS.
States Advanced Proof of Citizenship Legislation:
In Mississippi, the legislature agreed on SB 2588 to require local election officials to verify voters’ citizenship using the SAVE database and to audit voter rolls for potential noncitizens, sending it to the Governor for approval. State Rep Cheikh Taylor described the bill, also known as the Safeguard Honest Integrity in Elections for Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act, as a “poll tax dressed up in modern language.”
In South Dakota, Gov. Larry Rhoden signed SB 175 to require voters to prove their citizenship when they register to vote. Due to an emergency clause, the bill goes into effect immediately, before the June 2 primary.
STATE ACTIVITY
California • Over Half a Million Ballots Seized By Sheriff to Investigate “Election Integrity” Group’s Claims: Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a constitutional sheriff and former dues-paying member of the Oath Keepers, seized more than 650,000 ballots from the November 2025 election to investigate an alleged vote discrepancy. Bianco has said that his investigators are looking into allegations by an organization identified as the Riverside Election Integrity Team that “did their own audit” and allegedly found there was a 45,896 vote discrepancy between the handwritten ballot intake logs and the number of votes reported to the state.
Official records show the discrepancy was about 100 votes. State Attorney General Rob Bonta sharply criticized the ballot seizure, stating it “sets a dangerous precedent and will only sow distrust in our elections.”
Georgia • Senate Passed HB 960 to Majorly Overhaul the State’s Election System: In a mostly party line vote, the state Senate passed HB 960, an election bill that would have wide-ranging implications for the 2026 midterms. HB 960 is almost identical to SB 968, which failed to pass on Crossover Day. It would require hand-marked paper ballots, switching the state’s election system on July 1, less than 8 months before the voting in the midterms begins.
It would also require recounts to be counted by hand and for recounts to occur for all ballots within 2 days of certification for certain elections, among other provisions.
Mississippi • Push to Use Unverified Addresses From Credit Agency Left Legitimate Voters Inactive During Primaries: In July 2025, the Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson began using unverified credit data from Experian to check voters’ residences, which led to 50,000 registered voters being made inactive. Mississippi Today identified numerous voters who were wrongly made inactive due to the credit data although it’s unknown exactly how many voters were wrongly made inactive.
According to Mississippi Today, there was a lack of proper safeguards to check the accuracy of the credit data before it could inactivate voters and there was not a proper notice made to many of the affected voters.
ANTI-VOTING GROUP ACTIVITY
Anti-Voting Groups Pushed For Anti-Voting Bills Across the Country:
The Election Integrity Network (EIN) continued to push for the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act and claimed that over 7,000 people had signed their SAVE Act pledge.
VoterGA, which is led by Garland Favorito, issued a press release urging the Georgia Senate’s passage of HB 960.
Tennessee Fair Elections, the state chapter of EIN, pushed for supporters to contact state committee members to pass HB 851/SB 1029 which would require UOCAVA voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship to vote.
This is horrifying. It’s all going like Putin planned. Trump is being played by everyone on the planet and is too dumb to know it.