The BIGGEST Democracy Story You Need to Know

"It appears the Justice Department is trying to acquire sensitive information on all Americans for who knows what purpose, with very, very questionable statutory authority.”

The Department of Justice is reaching out to every state to get voter data — a concerning move that could reflect attempts to impact the fairness of 2026 and 2028 elections. Information in these files varies by state, but can include names, photos, social security numbers, ID information, copies of your signature, and more, making this data an incredibly powerful tool for Republicans to target Dem voters.

This unprecedented move has been unfolding over the last few months, and over 15 states have now received incredibly vague letters instructing them to turn over all voter information — vague because the legal obligation for states to comply is fairly murky. To make matters worse, many of the letters came from acting chief of the DOJ’s voting section Maureen Riordan who used to work at the Public Interest Legal Foundation — an organization focused on restricting voting access.

The requirement for states to hand over records is unclear because the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act were quoted as reasons for compliance in many of the letters, but not every state has to adhere to them. Minnesota and New Hampshire both received letters but are exempt from NVRA’s public disclosure provision, so their letters just included an indistinct request for data (they both refused).

Voting rights experts are understandably concerned by this latest overreach and its implications – David Becker, the founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research and a former trial attorney in the DOJ’s voting section, said, “I think [this] should concern all Americans… because it appears the Justice Department is trying to acquire sensitive information on all Americans for who knows what purpose, with very, very questionable statutory authority.”

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows expressed concern about voter data being given to an administration that has already attacked democracy with voter purges, lawsuits, and the weaponization of law enforcement against political opponents.

“How can Americans trust that they wouldn’t be investigating people based on political affiliation?” she said. “And making decisions about whether to move forward with an investigation and a lawsuit, or prosecution based on partisan politics?”

Republicans haven’t shied away from weakening voting rights in other ways either; in Georgia’s 2020 runoff election, a right-wing organization challenged over 360,000 voters — the largest mass voter challenge in American history since Jim Crow. In the 2024 election, the GOP in Alabama and Virginia were allowed to purge recently-naturalized citizens from voter rolls, and they attempted to purge over 277,000 voters in Pennsylvania and 1.2 million voters in Arizona less than a week before the 2024 election.

This week Trump continued to do everything possible to make sure people that don’t support him can’t vote, threatening mail-in voting (and voting machines?).

“Quickly, mail-in ballots are corrupt. Mail-In ballots. You can never have a real democracy with mail-in ballots. And we as a Republican Party are going to do everything possible that we get rid of mail-in ballots, Trump said rambled. "We're going to start with an executive order that's being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail-in ballots because they're corrupt and, do you know that we're the only country in the world?”

That last part is news to me!

Amid all the other terrible news coming from the Trump admin and their refusal to release the Epstein files, we need to ensure that our democracy is being protected at its very core — by protecting the right to vote and to free and fair elections. People are fighting at every level in the courts to do just that, but they need all the help they can get. Amplify this issue, spread the word, and talk to people in your communities about how serious this really is — our democracy depends on it.

If you liked this story, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber — it really is the best way to support my work. Either way, thank you so much for being here.