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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
“They’re acting as if the Voting Rights Act does not exist. Either they don’t care, or they expect Section 2 to be gone.” – Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, Indiana University Bloomington law professor, on Indiana legislators’ approach to a proposed congressional map [ [link removed] ].
NOTABLE TRENDS
DOJ on Track to Compel Voter Purges After Suing 6 More States Over Voter Data: During an appearance on the conservative website Just the News’, No Noise show, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon claimed [ [link removed] ] that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was on track to force at least 26 states to “clean up voter rolls.” The appearance came a day after the DOJ sued six more states [ [link removed] ](Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington) over their refusal to share voter roll data, bringing the total number of states the DOJ has sued over access to voter data to 14.
On top of the 14 states the DOJ has sued, Dhillon stated that the DOJ “are close to reaching resolution, voluntary cooperation with another dozen states,” had “voluntary cooperation from four states,” and reached a consent decree with North Carolina that allowed access to voter data.
Separately, Colorado [ [link removed] ] became the latest state to refuse to share voter roll data with the DOJ, saying that the “DOJ can take a hike.”
4 States Will Help DHS Obtain Driver’s License Records in Effort to Overhaul SAVE Program: Four states (Florida, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio) agreed to help [ [link removed] ] the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) gain access to state driver’s license data as part of a settlement agreement in a federal lawsuit brought last year to try to gain access to the SAVE program to verify voters’ citizenship status. The settlement requires the DHS to continue its development of the SAVE program into a tool for voter citizenship verification – in return, the states have agreed to support DHS’s efforts to access the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (Nlets), a tool law enforcement uses to search driver’s license records across state lines.
Before the settlement was filed, DHS publicly confirmed that it wants to connect Nlets to the SAVE program. Separately, 11 secretaries of state sent a 29-page letter [ [link removed] ] on their concerns about the SAVE program, stating that it presents “unacceptable risks” to voters.
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STATE ACTIVITY
Indiana • State House Committee Passed Draft Congressional Map that Could Eliminate Both Districts Held by Democrats, Seemingly Ignoring the Voting Rights Act: In a 8-5 vote, an Indiana House committee approved [ [link removed] ] a new GOP-backed gerrymandered congressional map that could eliminate both congressional districts currently held by Democrats. It is unclear if there are enough votes in the legislature to pass the map; however, the discussion and strategy from Republican legislators about the map is particularly concerning.
When asked by Democratic lawmakers about if the new map complied with the VRA, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting, state Rep. Ben Smaltz (R), the bill’s author, simply said he had “no idea about that question at all.”
Another concerning aspect of the bill to pass the new map is that it could severely limit legal challenges [ [link removed] ] to the map, stating that a “temporary restraining order may not be sought or issued.”
Texas • Hundreds of Voters Flagged as Potential Noncitizens May Have Already Proven Their Citizenship: County election officials investigating the eligibility of 2,724 Texas voters flagged as potential noncitizens by the SAVE program have found that hundreds [ [link removed] ] of the voters registered through the state Department of Public Safety, which requires proof of citizenship from anyone registering to vote while obtaining a driver’s license or state ID.
Despite the fact that DPS keeps copies of the proof of citizenship that voters provide, the Texas Secretary of State’s office did not check the voters flagged as potential noncitizens by the SAVE program against DPS’ records before sending the list of thousands of voters to county election officials to verify citizenship.
ANTI-VOTING GROUP ACTIVITY
RNC Sued Michigan Over Overseas Voter Eligibility: The Republican National Committee (RNC) sued [ [link removed] ] Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D), targeting voters who have not lived in the state but are spouses or children of military overseas Michigan voters. The lawsuit claimed that state election law and guidance from the SOS’s office that allowed these voters to vote in Michigan violated the state Constitution, which requires a voter to have lived in the state for at least six months.
The lawsuit is similar to one brought by the RNC and Michigan Republican Party last year against Benson which was dismissed.
Right-Wing Group Sued to Block California’s New Map, Claiming the 15th Amendment Bans Use of Race In Redistricting: The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), which has a long record of filing anti-voting lawsuits including ones seeking to force voter purges, filed a lawsuit [ [link removed] ] against California’s Proposition in an effort to block the voter-approved new congressional map. PILF’s lawsuit argues that the 15th Amendment banned any use of race in redistricting, even districts designed to protect minority representation.
PILF also attacked two districts in Los Angeles that have elected Black members of Congress for decades, claiming that it is a “deliberately racially engineered outcome.”
Paid for by Fair Fight Action.

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