While the nation focuses on Congress and the fierce debate over the SAVE America Act, a critical lawsuit is playing out in the United States Supreme Court. This week, the Justices heard oral arguments in <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/watson-v-republican-national-committee/">Watson v. RNC</a>. The central question: Can states count mail ballots that arrive days — even weeks — after polls close? According to the law, history, and common sense, the answer must be no.
For most of American history, states required that ballots be received by Election Day. Congress acted as early as 1845 to set a uniform election date, and until the last few decades it was well understood that states cannot unilaterally extend voting beyond it.
Yet, that is exactly what 14 states and the District of Columbia are doing. Mississippi’s law offers a five-day grace period, while others range from as few as one day to two weeks or more. But the exact length of these periods is not important. Historically, a ballot has not been considered “cast” until it is in the hands of an election official. By extending their deadlines, states are illegally extending the election itself. As the Secretaries of State of Louisiana and Wyoming point out in a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-1260/396453/20260217143551649_24-1260_Brief.pdf">brief</a> to the Court, this scheme risks delays and public spectacles where late ballots flip results after voting is over, both of which sap trust from the system.
Most states require ballots be received by Election Day, and that <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/table-11-receipt-and-postmark-deadlines-for-absentee-mail-ballots">list is growing.</a> Last year, Kansas, Ohio, Utah, and North Dakota all set Election Day deadlines. The public overwhelmingly supports this. A new <a href="https://honestelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Watson-v-RNC-Polling-Memo.pdf">poll</a> by Honest Elections Project shows that 83% of Americans agree that every ballot should be received by Election Day, while 78% say Election Day deadlines make voting more secure. Nearly 60% say they would not trust election results if late ballots are counted, with Democrats evenly split — clear evidence of deep, bipartisan distrust.
Despite this, the (mostly blue) states with late deadlines argue they are crucial to ensure that “every vote counts.” Yet most sprang up in just the last few years; <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-1260/396356/20260217101242321_Amicus%20Brief%20Merits.pdf">seven</a> states only <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/the-evolution-of-absentee-mail-voting-laws-2020-through-2022">adopted</a> them in the COVID era. If they were not necessary in 1900, 2000, or even 2018, how can they be indispensable now?
With more people voting by mail, critics claim extended deadlines guard against postal delays and ballot rejection. U.S. Election Assistance Commission <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-1260/396356/20260217101242321_Amicus%20Brief%20Merits.pdf">data</a> show otherwise. Massachusetts established a three-day grace period and rejected as many late ballots in 2024 as it did in 2016 under the old rules. Nevada rejected more in 2024 than in 2016 after adopting a four-day grace period and all-mail elections.
These states ignore an easy alternative: encourage mail-in voters to request and mail their ballots earlier. When Ohio moved from 10 days to just four, rejections declined. The same is true in Iowa under its new Election Day deadline. Clearly, voters adapt when laws change. When states move deadlines up, voters act sooner. When they push deadlines back, voters delay.
That sets them up for failure. Ballots frequently miss even extended deadlines due to mail delays. There are other obstacles, too: states typically require that late ballots be postmarked, but postmarking is inconsistent. Many ballots are never postmarked, or their marks are smudged or illegible. A new USPS <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/24/2025-20740/postmarks-and-postal-possession">rule</a> means that ballots may not be postmarked the day they are mailed. In other words, late ballot laws leave voters one bad postmark away from disenfranchisement.
The Post Office has long <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7035581-USPS-General-Counsel-Letter-July-2020/">admonished</a> states to adjust their voting laws to fit the realities of today’s mail service. Many have refused. The Watson case could be the nudge they need to fix their broken systems.
With a ruling likely in June, critics are predicting chaos in the midterms. They ignore that states would have more than four months to adjust. They claim that military voters will be hard-hit but overlook that federal law requires overseas ballots be mailed 45 days before elections and specifically exempts them from the broader Election Day deadline.
Rather than stoking outrage, election officials in these states should focus on preparing for the change, or better yet, for legislatures to repeal their late ballot laws immediately. The public won’t look kindly on officials delaying action, especially if they aim to score points from entirely avoidable chaos.
For too many years, late ballot laws have turned elections into a guessing game while fueling doubt and distrust. Election Day deadlines are clear, simple to administer, and easy for voters to adjust to. With Watson v. RNC, the Supreme Court has a chance to end late ballots once and for all. Every voter should hope they do.
* * *
Jason Snead is the executive director of Honest Elections Project.

Pennsylvania Elections Officials Process Ballots On Election Day

You Can Kiss Republicans Goodbye If This Election Rule Doesn’t Change

You Can Kiss Republicans Goodbye If This Election Rule Doesn't Change

2026 Midterms

Election Laws

Elections

Mail-In Voting

Opinion

Supreme Court

Voter Integrity

Voting

President Donald Trump called for Republicans to get a national voter ID law passed ahead of the midterm elections, saying that he would take executive action if Congress could not get it done.
Trump’s call comes after the SAVE America Act requiring photo identification and proof of citizenship to vote in elections <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-revamped-bill-to-prevent-illegal-immigrants-from-voting-senate-battle-looms">passed</a> the House on Wednesday and headed to the Senate.
“We cannot let the Democrats get away with NO VOTER I.D. any longer. These are horrible, disingenuous CHEATERS. They have all sorts of reasons why it shouldn’t be passed, and then boldly laugh in the backrooms after their ridiculous presentations,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “If it weren’t such a serious matter, it would be considered a TOTAL JOKE! No Voter I.D. is even crazier, and more ridiculous, than Men playing in Women’s Sports, Open Borders, or Transgender for Everyone.”
Trump said Republicans should be talking about the issue in every speech, pointing to polling that most Americans support voter ID laws.
“This is an issue that must be fought, and must be fought, NOW!” Trump said. “If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.”
Trump said that if Democrats took back power, they would move to make Washington, D.C.,  and Puerto Rico states, pack the Supreme Court, and remove the filibuster in the Senate.
“Our Country will never be the same if they allow these demented and evil people to knowingly, and happily, destroy it,” Trump said.
According to the <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id">National Conference of State Legislatures</a>, &#8220;Thirty-six states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls. The remaining 14 states and Washington, D.C., use other methods to verify the identity of voters. Most frequently, other identifying information provided at the polling place, such as a signature, is checked against information on file.&#8221;
After the House passed the SAVE America Act on Wednesday, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has been pushing for it to move forward in the Senate. He has already picked up 49 Republican co-sponsors of the legislation and got commitment to support the bill from Senator Susan Collins (R-ME).
In a <a href="https://x.com/BasedMikeLee/status/2022447031386804662">video</a> posted to social media, Lee said that Republicans in the Senate should now move forward to debate and force Democrats to use the “talking filibuster” instead of the “zombie filibuster.”
Polling <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-undercuts-democrat-voter-suppression-claims">released</a> by Cygnal this week found that 72% of white voters, 69% of Hispanic voters, and 56% of black voters support requiring identification at the polls.

President Trump And EPA Administrator Zeldin Make An Announcement From The White House

Trump Floats Executive Action On Voter ID If Congress Doesn’t Act

Donald Trump

Mike Lee

Politics

U.S. Senate

Voter ID

Even as the momentum to protect American elections from foreign influence continues to move forward in 2025, more action is needed, an election integrity watchdog warned in a Wednesday report first shared with The Daily Wire. 
The <a href="https://honestelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/HEP-Securing-the-Vote-2025.pdf">report</a> from the Honest Elections Project documents how eight states have moved in the last year to close a loophole that allows foreign nationals to fund state-level ballot measure campaigns. These campaigns can range from battles over abortion and marijuana to proposals governing how elections are conducted. 
“Foreign nationals are prohibited from funding candidate campaigns and PACs, but most states lack similar protections for ballot measure campaigns,” the report says. “As a result, foreign nationals and foreign-funded entities are free to fund and influence campaigns that change state constitutions or even rewrite the rules of the very elections that foreigners are forbidden to influence.”
States that moved to ban foreign funding for ballot initiatives included Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wyoming.
<div id="attachment_967805" style="width: 1826px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-967805" class="size-full wp-image-967805" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-11.41.43-AM.png" alt="" width="1816" height="979" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-11.41.43-AM.png 1816w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-11.41.43-AM-300x162.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-11.41.43-AM-1024x552.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-11.41.43-AM-768x414.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-11.41.43-AM-1536x828.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1816px) 100vw, 1816px" />Honest Election Project</div>
Efforts to ban foreign funding have failed in some conservative states like Texas, where Democrats used a procedural move to hold up the proposal. The report was critical of a bill in Montana on foreign spending, arguing that it had no legislative teeth. 
“Despite these setbacks, states across the country made extraordinary progress towards closing the foreign funding loophole in 2025—most on a bipartisan basis,” the report said. “That bipartisanship only goes so far, however: few of the measures that ultimately passed had Democratic co-sponsors, and none were advanced in Democrat-controlled legislatures.”
The reports point to the influence of Hansjörg Wyss, a leftist Swiss billionaire, who has <a href="https://americansforpublictrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sixteen-Thirty-Fund-Spending-on-Ballot-Issue-Campaigns.pdf">reportedly</a> donated over $280 million to the leftist Sixteen Thirty Fund. The Sixteen Thirty Fund has, in turn, spent around $130 million on state and local ballot initiatives since 2014. 
According to Americans for Public Trust, the funding from the Sixteen Thirty Fund for ballot initiatives included about $33.5 million in Michigan, $20.7 million in Ohio, $17 million in Florida, $13 million in Missouri, and $10.9 million in Colorado. 
Honest Elections Project argued that the spending in Michigan “drove ballot measures on redistricting and election rules that fundamentally reshaped the democratic process for partisan advantage.” 
When asked about the increase in states looking to ban foreign spending on elections, a spokesman for Sixteen Thirty Fund said it backed the DISCLOSE Act, legislation backed by Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse that would expand &#8220;the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals,&#8221; according to the Congressional Research Service. 
&#8220;Sixteen Thirty Fund is compliant with all applicable laws and regulations, including those governing state and local ballot elections,&#8221; the spokesman said. &#8220;Our organization has publicly advocated for the passing of the DISCLOSE Act, which would increase campaign finance transparency and accountability.&#8221;
In response to this funding, the report called for lawmakers in Michigan, Florida, and other states to take action. 
The ballot initiative loophole makes American elections vulnerable to the influence of foreign nationals from countries like China, Russia, and Iran, the report said. 
Leftist lawyer Marc Elias lost a case over the summer attempting to block the enactment of the law blocking foreign funding of ballot campaigns in Kansas. He previously lost a similar lawsuit in Ohio. 
The report also highlighted the passage of laws in several states banning ranked-choice voting, a system where ballots are counted in rounds and the person who starts with the most votes doesn’t necessarily win based on how other voters rank them. 
Ranked choice voting “replaces the principle of ‘one person, one vote’ with a complicated process in which voters rank numerous candidates in each race and winners are computed by eliminating poor-performing candidates, redistributing votes, and eliminating exhausted ballots,” the report said. 
In 2025, Arkansas, West Virginia, Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota, and Wyoming all banned ranked choice voting. The previous year, ballot efforts to introduce ranked choice voting failed in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and Colorado. 
<div id="attachment_967807" style="width: 1907px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-967807" class="size-full wp-image-967807" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-12.14.43-PM.png" alt="" width="1897" height="925" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-12.14.43-PM.png 1897w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-12.14.43-PM-300x146.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-12.14.43-PM-1024x499.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-12.14.43-PM-768x374.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-12.14.43-PM-1536x749.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1897px) 100vw, 1897px" />Honest Elections Project</div>
The Honest Elections Project called for Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas to all take steps to proactively ban ranked choice voting. 
“In 2025, states across the country took extraordinary steps to ban the foreign funding of ballot issue campaigns and ranked-choice voting, two of the biggest threats to election integrity and voter confidence facing the nation, and they did so in record numbers,” Jason Snead, Executive Director of the Honest Elections Project, told The Daily Wire. “While there is still much work to be done in 2026 and beyond, this was a banner year for election integrity.”

Oceana’s 2015 New York City Benefit

Here Are The States That Closed The Loophole On Foreign Cash In Elections

Ranked Choice Voting

Several states are working to ban foreign funding of ballot issue campaigns after a dark money group poured cash from foreign billionaires into ballot initiatives last year.
As of October, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a nonprofit that has funneled more than $1 billion dollars in dark money to liberal causes, had <a href="https://americansforpublictrust.org/uncategorized/late-october-2024-update-foreign-backed-spending-in-state-ballot-issue-campaigns/">spent</a> over $37 million on state ballot initiatives. The fund is fueled, in large part, by Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, who has given the group $243 million. Wyss has said he has “never felt the need to become an American” but wants to “(re)interpret the American Constitution in the light of progressive politics.”
That may be easier said than done.
In June, Ohio became the first state to ban both direct and indirect foreign funding of state ballot issues. Since then, at least eight other states have begun trying to ban foreign nationals from funneling cash into American ballot initiatives. Last week, the Mississippi Senate as well as the Kentucky and Wyoming Houses passed legislation to ban foreign nationals from funding ballot issue campaigns.
The Indiana House of Representatives passed similar legislation this week, as did the Kansas House last week. committees in Indiana and Utah voted to advance similar legislation, and similar bills have been introduced in Tennessee and Missouri.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Kansas HB 2106 — a crucial bill to stop foreign nationals from funding state ballot issue campaigns — has cleared the House Committee on Elections.
The bill now heads to the House floor for a full vote. Kansas lawmakers must act to protect Kansas elections! <a href="https://t.co/RAvUZCRBdv">pic.twitter.com/RAvUZCRBdv</a>
&mdash; Americans for Public Trust (@apublictrust) <a href="https://twitter.com/apublictrust/status/1889437490295324801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Federal lawmakers have taken note as well.
In December, the House committee that oversees federal elections <a href="https://cha.house.gov/2024/12/top-takeaways-from-full-committee-hearing-on-prohibiting-foreign-interference-in-american-elections" target="_blank" rel="noopener">held</a> a hearing discussing loopholes that allow foreign nationals to contribute to political campaigns.
In the recent election cycle, the Sixteen Thirty Fund funded ballot initiatives in several swing states or states with a close Senate election, Americans for Public Trust found.
In Arizona, the group gave $1.25 million to support an abortion ballot initiative that passed, enshrining a right to abortion in the state constitution. Nevada approved a similar abortion initiative on the ballot this November, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund gave $500,000 to that effort. Democrats <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/abortion-rights-amendment-one-step-closer-appearing-arizona-ballot-rcna159753" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hoped</a> that putting abortion on the ballot would boost Democratic voter turnout in these states.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund also funded ballot initiatives in Ohio, Florida, Nebraska, Montana, Missouri, and Alaska.
Since 2014, the Sixteen Thirty Fund has spent nearly $130 million on ballot initiatives in 25 states — <a href="https://americansforpublictrust.org/uncategorized/late-october-2024-update-foreign-backed-spending-in-state-ballot-issue-campaigns/">including</a> $34 million in Michigan, $21 million in Ohio, $17 million in Florida, $13 million in Missouri, $11 million in Colorado, $7 million in Nevada, around $3.5 million in North Carolina, and around $1.5 million in Arizona.
States that ban foreign nationals from funding ballot issue campaigns would no longer see these influxes of foreign cash flowing into their ballot initiatives.
“It’s clear that Americans across the country are sick and tired of foreign funds influencing our politics and want their election officials to take action,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust.
&#8220;We are encouraged by the momentum happening in the states, and look forward to Congress building on their work from last session to pass a bill that bans foreign nationals from influencing ballot initiatives nationwide,&#8221; Sutherland said.
&#8220;Closing the foreign election influence loophole is crucial to promoting election integrity,&#8221; said Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project. &#8220;Fortunately, states are beginning to take action to prevent foreign nationals from impacting American elections.”

US-VOTE-POLITICS-PENNSYLVANIA

These States Are Fighting To Keep Foreign Leftist Billionaires Out Of American Elections

Bans On Foreign Election Funding Gain Momentum Across The Country

Foreign Policy

The Trump campaign is demanding action after the<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colorado"> Colorado</a> Secretary of State’s office said it had accidentally posted county voting system passwords publicly on its website for months.
Lawyers for former President<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump"> Donald Trump</a> told Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Wednesday to order county clerks to temporarily stop processing mail-in ballots until county election systems can be reconfigured after the password leak was discovered. The voting system passwords from nearly every Colorado county, for equipment like vote tabulating machines, were posted to the Secretary of State&#8217;s office website in June and could be viewed by clicking “unhide,&#8221;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorado-republicans-critical-of-secretary-of-state-after-voting-system-passwords-posted-online/"> according</a> to The Denver Post. 
Griswold, who is facing calls to resign from Republicans over the security breach, has said that the password leak did not compromise election security because the state&#8217;s voting system had multiple safeguards in place. Still, Trump&#8217;s campaign is pushing for further transparency. 
“We are particularly concerned because your office knew of this security breach at least as early as October 24, yet concealed the problem by failing to notify anyone,” Trump lawyer Scott Gessler<a href="https://prod-static.gop.com/media/documents/24.10.30_Demand_Letter_to_CO_SoS_1730308198.pdf"> wrote</a> on Wednesday. Gessler asked Griswold to order impacted counties to take steps to reprogram the election machines and said that it was “essential that you act immediately to protect the integrity of Colorado’s general election.”
“We recognize these steps may be an inconvenience for your office and for the affected counties. But this inconvenience is necessary because it is the only way to guarantee that the elections equipment in those counties whose current BIOS [basic input/output system] passwords were disclosed by your office are secure and that the chain-of-custody for that equipment required by Colorado law and regulations is unbroken,” he wrote. 
In a Thursday<a href="https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/coloradopolitics.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/07/107b3950-97e4-11ef-8dc7-6b56fe4bba8f/672419dca4bc2.pdf.pdf"> response</a> to Trump and the Colorado Republican Party, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Beall wrote that officials became aware of the breach last week. 
“It was quickly determined that the spreadsheet presented no immediate threat to the security of Colorado’s voting systems or the 2024 General Election,” Beall wrote. “The Department determined that because Colorado’s voting systems are protected by layers of security and redundancies, no single error can compromise the integrity of the system.”
Beall said state cybersecurity experts would go to impacted counties to update voting systems&#8217; passwords. CBS reported that Griswold’s office did not immediately inform county election officials after discovering the security lapse. 
&#8220;Unfortunately, clerks found out about it from an email that came from the state GOP, which was incredibly disappointing,&#8221; Colorado County Clerks&#8217; Association Matt Crane told CBS Colorado. &#8220;If a mistake happens in a county, counties have to report that out to the state immediately. And so with something like this, when it is such so severe in nature, potentially severe, we think that the first call should have been to the county, so that we could have taken a look at our systems and at our security processes and make sure that everything was okay.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Griswold’s handling of the incident has drawn criticism from Republicans in Colorado, including former Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Taheri. Taheri said that Griswold was trying to downplay the mass posting of the passwords. 
“She&#8217;s trying to say that in order to get in, you need both passwords,&#8221; Taheri told CBS. &#8220;Well, not really. The first password, as long as you&#8217;re physically there, you could then plug a USB into the computer, bypass the system password and get in and start doing whatever you wanted with the software.&#8221;
Griswold has so far resisted calls to resign, saying there were no serious consequences from the breach. 
“No, I&#8217;m not going to resign,” Griswold<a href="https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/griswold-says-she-wont-resign-after-voting-system-passwords-were-shared-on-website"> told</a> Denver7. “A civil servant in the department made a serious mistake that we have actively taken action to remedy. Humans make mistakes. And that&#8217;s why I&#8217;ve been so focused on adding more layers of security to our elections.”

US-VOTE-POLITICS-TRUMP

Trump Demands Action After Colorado Officials Say Voting System Passwords Leaked

2024 Election

Colorado

Wisconsin was perhaps the most consequential swing state in 2016, and was decided in the past two presidential elections by razor-thin margins. This year doesn&#8217;t seem like it will be any different.
Here&#8217;s everything you need to know about Wisconsin.
Polling
Throughout August, Harris led Trump by as much as an average of five points before Trump started taking ground back in September and retook the lead in October. Trump currently leads Harris 48.8% to 48.2%, according to a DecisionDeskHQ <a href="https://elections2024.thehill.com/wisconsin/harris-trump-wisconsin/">average </a>of 67 polls from Wisconsin. 
DecisionDesk HQ now <a href="https://elections2024.thehill.com/forecast/2024/president/wisconsin/">projects</a> Trump has a 55% chance of winning Wisconsin, a major reversal after Harris was given a 59% chance at the end of August. 
Trump winning Wisconsin would buck recent trends in the state, which Democrats won every year from 1988 until 2016. Before that, Republicans <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_voting_trends_in_Wisconsin">won</a> Wisconsin in every presidential election but two from 1952 to 1984. 
The top issues for Wisconsin voters are the economy, immigration, and abortion. The <a href="https://law.marquette.edu/poll/category/poll-release/">most recent polling</a> available from Marquette University Law School shows that 40% of voters said the economy was the most important, 15% said immigration and border security, and 12% said abortion. 
Trump is trusted by 51% of voters on the issues of immigration and the economy while Harris was trusted by just 36% of voters on those issues. On the issue of abortion, Harris was trusted by 53% of voters compared to the 30% of voters who trust Trump on the issue. 
What The Candidates Are Saying
Unlike Hillary Clinton&#8217;s notorious 2016 decision to skip campaigning in the Badger State, both Trump and Harris have campaigned heavily in the critical battleground. 
Trump has at least two major rallies planned in Wisconsin for the final week of the campaign. On Wednesday, Trump will <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nfl-legend-brett-favre-to-rally-with-trump-in-wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">take the stage</a> alongside football legend Brett Favre for a rally in Green Bay. Then on Friday, Trump will head to the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee — where he received the endorsement of the city’s police association — for another rally. 
On Monday, Trump&#8217;s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, spoke in both Wausau and Racine.
Harris has a rally scheduled at the University of Wisconsin in Madison on Wednesday, where she hopes to appeal to young voters through a joint appearance with Mumford &amp; Sons. Earlier this month, Harris campaigned with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney in Brookfield. 
How Wisconsin Has Voted In The Past
In 2016, former President Donald Trump became the first Republican to carry <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin</a> since Ronald Reagan, winning the state by just over 20,000 votes. 
Four years later, Wisconsin swung for President Joe Biden, again by just 20,000 votes. This year&#8217;s race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is again expected to be determined by a razor-thin margin as polls indicate a statistically tied race to claim the state’s 10 electoral votes. 
What Early Voting Shows
Hundreds of thousands have already voted, with Wisconsin&#8217;s election commission reporting Friday that early voting had jumped almost 40% since the same time in 2020. As of Sunday, the commission <a href="https://elections.wi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/AbsenteeCounts_County_2024%20General%20Election_9.csv">reported</a> that some 405,744 people had already voted early.
Around 108,213 early voters were reported in the Democratic strongholds of Dane and Milwaukee County. In Wisconsin’s traditionally Republican “WOW” counties (Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington), around 86,244 people have voted early, according to election commission data.
Republicans need to perform well in the WOW counties in order to offset Democrats&#8217; advantage in urban areas. Republicans will also need high turnout from the state&#8217;s rural counties.
When Can We Expect A Result?
In both 2016 and 2020, the results of Wisconsin’s presidential election were not known on Election Day. In 2016, the results were <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/24/when-will-the-presidential-election-be-called-in-wisconsin/75806755007/">announced</a> the morning after the election, while in 2020 the state was called for Biden after the election. Milwaukee and other cities have followed policies that require all ballots to be counted in one central area, which has caused delays in getting ballots counted in previous years. 
The 2024 results could see a similar timeline as 2020, but will likely not take as long as officials say it will in states like Arizona. 
Voting Issues From 2020 To Now
Election integrity was a major concern for Republicans in Wisconsin after widespread mail-in voting during the 2020 election. 
One of the most contentious issues has been that of the use of drop boxes for ballots. In July 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the use of drop boxes in 2020 violated the state constitution. However, the court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swing-state-supreme-court-rules-that-ballot-drop-boxes-can-be-used-in-2024-election">reversed</a> its decision in July after the liberal wing of the court took the majority earlier this year. 
The decision was celebrated by Democrats and decried by Republicans, who argued that the use of drop boxes would compromise election integrity.
Use of the drop boxes is <a href="https://www.wispolitics.com/2024/elections-commission-says-at-least-78-drop-boxes-in-use-across-wisconsin/">reportedly</a> down this year from 2024 with about just 78 in use compared to the 500 that were employed in 2020. Multiple cities and villages throughout the state have banned the use of drop boxes this time around after security concerns. 
“I think that a ballot drop box does create opportunity for those that want to circumvent the law,” Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt <a href="https://pbswisconsin.org/news-item/the-ongoing-clash-over-using-ballot-drop-boxes-in-wisconsin/">said</a> earlier this year. 
Wausau Mayor Doug Diny is <a href="https://www.wxpr.org/election/2024-10-22/wausau-mayor-confirms-justice-department-visited-his-home-and-office-seizing-phones">under investigation</a> by the Justice Department after he moved the city’s drop box into his office because of concerns that it was secured to the ground outside city hall. 
Mail-in voting has already come under scrutiny in Madison after 2,215 duplicate ballots <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swing-state-voters-receive-mail-ballots-for-relatives-who-died-moved-away">were sent out</a> to the heavily Democratic city. City officials said the incident was a “mistake” while Republicans demanded a more in-depth investigation. 
The DOJ has also <a href="https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/doj-sues-two-wi-towns-switching-only-paper-ballots-not-using-voting">taken action</a> against the cities of Lawrence and Thornapple after they decided to only have paper ballots and cast them by hand. Federal officials accused the cities of discriminating against the disabled. Lawrence <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-wisconsin-townships-ensure-accessible-voting">has agreed</a> to use one electronic voting machine and a federal judge also <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-court-issues-preliminary-injunction-against-town-thornapple-wisconsin-requiring-use">placed an injunction</a> this month against Thornapple.
Wisconsin’s Election Commission <a href="https://www.wpr.org/news/conservative-firm-public-interest-legal-foundation-sues-wec-same-day-voter-audit-guidance">has been sued</a> by the Public Interest Legal Foundation for records on the state’s voter registration process while another suit <a href="https://www.wpr.org/news/lawsuits-seeking-changes-to-wisconsin-voter-rolls-filed-weeks-before-presidential-election">accuses</a> the Milwaukee Election Commission of having 143,000 invalid voters on its rolls. 
In September, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/voter-id-loophole-ripe-for-exploitation-in-election-battleground-legal-group-warns">warned</a> that there are 144,347 people in Wisconsin who do not have to show an ID to vote because they are classified as “indefinitely confined.” This status exploded during COVID when officials in Milwaukee and Madison said all voters could claim it, though the state Supreme Court later struck down this guidance. 
The Republican National Committee has already filed multiple lawsuits in the state as well, focusing on ensuring that cities hire an equal number of Republican <a href="https://protectthevote.com/litigation/hendrickson-v-city-clerk-for-the-city-of-racine/">poll workers</a> and special voting deputies to <a href="https://protectthevote.com/litigation/recker-v-city-clerk-for-the-city-of-appleton/">administer</a> elections at nursing homes. 
This time around there will be no private funding for elections, thanks to a Republican-backed measure that passed in April targeting “Zuckerbucks,&#8221; referring to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg&#8217;s widespread funding of state elections in 2020. 
More than $10 million in Zuckerbucks was spent in Wisconsin during the 2020 election, <a href="https://thefga.org/research/the-wisconsin-zuckerbucks-problem/">according</a> to the Foundation for Government Accountability. The FGA estimated that more than 80% of the funding went to areas Biden won by an average of 37 points. 
Other Races To Watch
Other key elections in Wisconsin include a contentious contest between Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican challenger Eric Hovde. Like Trump, Hovde has jumped in the polls in recent weeks, with polls showing the race within one or two points. 
November also marks the first election with new legislative maps ordered by the state’s liberal Supreme Court and signed by Democratic Governor Tony Evers. Democrats are looking to chip away at the Republican’s supermajority in the Senate and majority in the Assembly. 
Voters will also have the opportunity to pass an amendment to the state constitution that would ensure only American citizens are allowed to vote in national, state, and local elections.

Donald Trump Campaigns For President In Racine, Wisconsin

Swing-State Showcase: Everything You Need To Know About The Race In Wisconsin

Kamala Harris

Mark Zuckerberg

Wisconsin

Voters in Georgia shattered a voting record on Tuesday when early voting began, despite claims from Democrats that the state’s election integrity law would suppress voting.
Since 2021, Democrats and their media counterparts compared Georgia’s voting law to Jim Crow – laws that ensured most black people would not be able to vote. CNN perpetrated many of the news articles against the Georgia law, but on Tuesday <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/15/politics/early-voting-record-georgia/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that 328,000 ballots were cast in Georgia on the first day of early voting – a massive increase from the 2020 record of 136,000.
Gabe Sterling, from Georgia’s secretary of state’s office, announced the numbers on X, saying, “So with the record breaking 1st day of early voting and accepted absentees we have had over 328,000 total votes cast so far.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
So with the record breaking 1st day of early voting and accepted absentees we have had over 328,000 total votes cast so far. You can track this data on <a href="https://twitter.com/GaSecofState?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GaSecofState</a> Raffensperger’s Data Hub here: <a href="https://t.co/0mcozlOrTa">https://t.co/0mcozlOrTa</a> <a href="https://t.co/lzGdYh25Su">pic.twitter.com/lzGdYh25Su</a>
— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) <a href="https://twitter.com/GabrielSterling/status/1846378150600606207?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp called out the media’s past claims while touting the numbers on X.
“For years, Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, Joe Biden, and their allies in the media lied about Georgia election laws to raise campaign cash and scare people,” Kemp wrote. “It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now. Here’s the truth: in Georgia, it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
For years, Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams, Joe Biden, and their allies in the media lied about Georgia election laws to raise campaign cash and scare people.
It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now. Here’s the truth: in Georgia, it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat. <a href="https://t.co/lfdlEFuma7">https://t.co/lfdlEFuma7</a>
— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianKempGA/status/1846339642825527667?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
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In 2021, Georgia passed a law designed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/georgias-election-integrity-act-everything-you-need-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to improve election integrity</a>, in part by requiring an ID for absentee voting. It also reduced early voting and updated voter processes and disparities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drop boxes were also moved to election offices and early voting locations and are only available during business hours. Counties in the state will also have to certify the results within six days instead of 10 and must complete counting ballots once counting has started.
These changes predictably prompted Democrats and the media to claim the law would lead to voter suppression.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729077615157000&amp;usg=AOvVaw17Kprl74oE9DYOLREdiBPU">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ COMING TO DAILYWIRE+ OCT. 28</a>
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) compared the law to the Jim Crow era while at the same time saying Democrat candidate Stacey Abrams actually won the governor’s office in 2018.
“The Republican who is sitting in Stacey Abrams’ chair just signed a despicable voter suppression bill into law to take Georgia back to Jim Crow. The Senate must pass the #ForThePeople Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act immediately — our democracy is at stake tonight,” Warren <a href="https://x.com/SenWarren/status/1375276181034045441">wrote on X</a> in 2021.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) also claimed the law would “make it harder for Georgians to vote.”
“Tonight Georgia’s legislature passed a bill brazenly intended to make it harder for Georgians to vote,” Ossoff <a href="https://x.com/ossoff/status/1375258814505742337?lang=en">posted to X</a> in 2021. “Among its outrageous provisions: it criminalizes *giving water to voters who are waiting in line.* It’s no wonder Gov. Kemp hid behind closed doors while he signed it.”
President Joe Biden made the same <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-biden-media-claim-georgia-law-prevents-giving-water-to-voters-in-line-thats-not-true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claim</a>.
“It’s an atrocity. The idea, you want any indication, it has nothing to do with fairness, nothing to do with decency. They pass a law saying you can’t provide water for people standing in line, while they’re waiting to vote.  You don’t need anything else to know that this is nothing but punitive, designed to keep people from voting. You can’t provide water for people about to vote? Give me a break,” Biden said in 2021.
The law makes it illegal to give money or gifts to voters – including food and drink – but doesn’t make it illegal for poll workers to make self-service water available to those waiting in line to vote. The law is meant to keep people from soliciting votes by giving gifts, not harm people waiting to vote.
Vice President Kamala Harris also called the law voter suppression, <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/the-jolt-vice-president-harris-says-georgia-election-law-is-clear-voter-suppression/ZKGXISC6NRAJ7NFHBMMY4CHAYU/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">telling</a> the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the law is a “renewed attempt to suppress the ability of people to vote.”
Major League Baseball moved its annual All-Star game from Atlanta because of the law. The game was moved to Denver, which also required ID to vote and was a far less diverse city than Atlanta, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mlb-moves-all-star-game-to-colorado-which-has-voter-id-laws-significantly-less-diverse-than-georgia">reported</a> at the time. In 2023, the All-Star game <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mlb-all-star-game-returns-to-atlanta-despite-uproar-over-jim-crow-voting-laws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">returned</a> to Atlanta.
Leftist media outlets also made wild claims about the Georgia law, leading to widespread voter suppression.
CNN was one of the worst offenders, with headlines such as “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/21/politics/georgia-republican-voting-restrictions/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Putting ‘cologne on Jim Crow’: Georgia GOP lawmakers drive toward new voting restrictions</a>,” “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/26/politics/georgia-voter-suppression-law-trump-biden/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Georgia’s new law suppressing the vote is a victory for Trump</a>,” and “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/06/politics/georgia-voting-rights-jim-crow/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘Dripping in the blood of Jim Crow’: Voting rights groups say GOP-backed bills in Georgia target Black voters</a>.”
Now, CNN has admitted that it is easier to vote in Democrat strongholds like Atlanta. One Atlanta-area voter told the outlet that the last time she voted, “the lines were out the door.”
“They only had like, maybe like three people working,” the voter <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/15/politics/early-voting-record-georgia/index.html">said</a>. “So, people honestly just started leaving because it was like that. Yeah, like, ‘This is too long. I can’t sit here (and) wait, I have to go back to work.’ But here, no, it was easy.”

Voting In Georgia

Dems Compared Georgia Election Law To Jim Crow – The State Just Broke Its Early Voting Record

Democrats Compared Georgia Election Law To Jim Crow - The State Just Broke Its Early Voting Record

Georgia

Media Bias

U.S.

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ohio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ohio</a> Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a measure to take effect mandating that voters place their own ballots in drop boxes, rejecting an effort from the Democratic Party to block the directive. 
The court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2024/2024-ohio-4953.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> 4-3 to dismiss a challenge to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s directive restricting drop box access to people dropping off their own ballots. The court said that the Ohio Democratic Party waited an unreasonable amount of time to file its suit and denied the effort to block the directive. 
“I’m grateful the court has allowed us to proceed with our efforts to protect the integrity of Ohio’s elections,” LaRose said in response to the ruling. “Political activists tried once again to dismantle the safeguards we’ve put in place, specifically in this case against ballot harvesting, and they’ve been rejected.”
“This is the same policy that’s been used successfully in other states, and it’s designed to protect both individuals and election officials from accusations of illegal voting,” he added. “The court’s decision should reinforce the confidence Ohio voters have in the security, honesty, and accountability of our elections.”
Ohio Democratic Party chair Elizabeth Walters lamented the decision. 
“Today’s decision is disappointing not just for us as a party, but for Ohioans who will be forced to jump through unnecessary hoops to exercise their right to vote in this historic election,” she <a href="https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/10/16/split-ohio-supreme-court-turns-down-lawsuit-challenging-new-dropbox-restrictions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Pierre Bergeron called the majority decision “a sleight of hand that should make our citizens shudder” and said the directive was “an affront to personal dignity.” 
LaRose’s directive was issued on August 31, and the Democratic Party challenged the suit on September 27. 
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729077615157000&amp;usg=AOvVaw17Kprl74oE9DYOLREdiBPU">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ COMING TO DAILYWIRE+ OCT. 28</a>
The directive said that individuals could return a ballot for a disabled voter or family member, but only to a county board of elections. This includes a requirement for the person dropping off the ballot to attest that they were authorized to return it inside the election board office.  Election officials were also required to post signs over the drop box explaining the guidelines. 
“I am acting under my statutory authority to compel the observance of election laws, in this case Ohio’s prohibition on ‘ballot harvesting,’ a process by which an individual attempts to collect and return absent voters’ ballots of other persons without accountability,” La Rose said. 
In the same directive, LaRose urged officials to remain vigilant about ballot harvesting. 
“Ongoing routine monitoring of drop boxes should continue, specifically monitoring for individuals who are dropping off more than one ballot,” he said. “My office will vigorously investigate and refer for prosecution any individual engaged in ballot harvesting in violation of Ohio law.”
Early voting began last week in Ohio as voters cast their ballots in the presidential race and a key Senate race between incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican challenger Bernie Moreno.

On Demand Voting Begins In Pennsylvania

Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Dems Lawsuit, Allows Drop Box Restrictions To Fight Ballot Harvesting

Ballot Harvesting

Courts

Democratic Party

Lawsuit

Ohio

The Republican National Committee alongside the Trump presidential campaign filed a lawsuit on Friday against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nevada" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nevada</a> for allowing mail-in ballots that arrive up to four days after Election Day to be counted.
The <a href="https://prod-static.gop.com/media/documents/NV_Election_Day_Complaint_filed_05.03.20243_1714757420.pdf?_gl=1*ngtvz6*_gcl_au*NzcyMzM4ODUxLjE3MTQ3NjY3MTA.&amp;_ga=2.197772207.1005609544.1714766711-708067852.1714766710" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suit</a>, also joined by the Nevada Republican Party, is challenging a Nevada law that says mail-in ballots can be counted if they are postmarked before the end of the day on Election Day and arrive up to four days after the election. According to the suit, this law violates federal election law and disproportionately harms Republicans. 
“Nevada’s ballot receipt deadline clearly violates federal law and undermines election integrity in the state. Ballots received days after Election Day should not be counted — the RNC and our partners are suing to secure an honest election, support Nevada voters, and oppose unlawful schemes,” <a href="https://gop.com/press-release/rnc-trump-campaign-and-nvgop-files-ballot-deadline-election-integrity-lawsuit-in-nevada/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> RNC Chair Michael Whatley. 
Filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Nevada, the suit names Democratic Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar and the county clerks and registers of Washoe and Clark County. 
One issue raised in the lawsuit is the provision of Nevada law that allows ballots with illegible postmarks to be counted. The suit pointed to a provision of Nevada <a href="https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-293.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> saying that a “mail ballot shall be deemed to have been postmarked on or before the day of the election” if the postmark cannot be read and it was received before 5 p.m. the third day after election day. 
“The result of Nevada’s violation of federal law is that timely, valid ballots are diluted by untimely, invalid ballots, which violates the rights of candidates, campaigns, and voters under federal law,” the suit says. “Counting mail ballots received after Election Day doesn’t just dilute the valid ballots — it specifically and disproportionately harms Republican candidates and voters.” 
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The suit hopes to block state election officials from counting ballots that are received after election day for the November 2024 election. 
&#8220;Our office will not comment on ongoing litigation, but I hope the RNC is putting as much time and energy into educating voters on how to participate in elections as they put into suing the state of Nevada,” Aguilar <a href="https://twitter.com/tabitha_mueller/status/1786495737364152618" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in response to the suit’s filing. 
The suit is the latest RNC effort to challenge state election laws ahead of the 2024 election with Nevada expected to be closely contested by both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

US-POLITICS-VOTE-NEVADA

Trump Campaign Sues Nevada Over Law Allowing Mail Ballots To Be Counted 4 Days After Election

Nevada

Republican National Committee (RNC)

A group of 16 Republican attorneys general told Attorney General <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/merrick-garland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Merrick Garland</a> on Wednesday that he was sowing “distrust” in the American electoral system with his comments criticizing state election integrity laws.
Led by Indiana AG Todd Rokita and West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey, the Republican officials sent a <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/INAG/2024/04/10/file_attachments/2843216/FINAL%20Garland%20Election%20Letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Garland over <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-deliver-remarks-bloody-sunday-tabernacle-baptist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comments</a> he made in Alabama discussing the Justice Department&#8217;s efforts to challenge Red state laws related to voter identification requirements and safeguards on vote-by-mail initiatives.
“The Biden administration is weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice against the states,” Rokita said in a statement. “These actions pose a direct threat to democracy, election integrity and the rule of law. We will stand up and defend our rightful authority within the framework of American federalism.”
The letter was referring to a speech Garland gave at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma on March 3. At the church, Garland said the DOJ was “challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in-voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements.”
According to the Republicans, these comments threatened the principles of federalism and the separation of powers, as well as the rule of law. Joining Indiana and West Virginia were the attorneys general of Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
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“By using the DOJ against the states, you continue to sow the seeds of distrust among the American electorate,” the officials said. “The DOJ has no authority to dictate to the states in matters that concern their sovereign right to ensure safe, secure, and free elections. Although we do not know exactly the strategy the DOJ intends to take with its numerous election attorneys, we intend to vigorously defend our election laws. We will not allow intimidation and fear mongering to supersede the will of the people.”
The Republicans argued that the DOJ’s criticism of voter ID laws didn’t make sense because people were required to provide IDs for voting, driving a car, purchasing alcohol, or boarding an airplane. The letter also pointed to a bipartisan report that came out in 2005 that found that absentee voting could open up the door for fraud, saying that Garland’s criticism of state laws tightening up scrutiny of mail-in-voting was unfounded. 
As the DOJ plans to challenge state election laws ahead of the 2024 election, the RNC has filed several suits to make Democratic secretaries of state in Michigan and Nevada clean up their voter rolls and enforce voter ID laws.

Attorney General Merrick Garland Makes Antitrust Announcement At Dept. Of Justice

Republican Attorneys General Warn Biden Admin About Challenging Election Integrity Laws

Biden Administration

Department of Justice

Indiana

Merrick Garland

West Virginia

Voters in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wisconsin</a> approved two election-related amendments to the State Constitution on Tuesday, including one that bans the use of private money for election administration. 
The Republican-backed amendments came after Facebook founder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> spent millions backing groups that funded election administration in counties across the country, including in Wisconsin, during the 2020 election. Critics argued that the massive amount of election funding distributed to non-profit groups, known as “Zuckerbucks,” unfairly benefited Democrat-dominated counties.
The initiative to ban private funding, Question 1, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/02/us/elections/results-wisconsin-question-1-prohibit-private-funding-of-elections.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> with 54% of the vote in favor and nearly 46% against. A section will now be added to the State Constitution that says &#8220;private donations and grants may not be applied for, accepted, expended, or used in connection with the conduct of any primary, election, or referendum,” The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4572010-wisconsin-pass-measure-private-funds-elections/">reported</a>. 
The second initiative, Question 2, defined who can administer various aspects of elections. It <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/02/us/elections/results-wisconsin-question-2-limit-election-conduct-to-election-officials.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> with nearly 59% supporting and 41% opposed. It stipulated that “only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums.”
Opposition to the two amendments was greatest in the Democratic-heavy counties surrounding Madison and Milwaukee. The amendments were approved as Wisconsin is again expected to be a battleground state for a likely rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in November. 
“Victory! Wisconsin has spoken and the message is clear: elections belong to voters, not out-of-state billionaires,” Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming <a href="https://wisgop.org/wisgop-statement-on-questions-1-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. “Thanks to the efforts by the Republican Party of Wisconsin and grassroots organizing, Wisconsinites have turned the page on Zuckerbucks and secured our elections from dark money donors.”
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<a href="https://thefga.org/research/the-wisconsin-zuckerbucks-problem/">According</a> to the Foundation for Government Accountability, more than $10 million in “Zuckerbucks” was spent in Wisconsin during the 2020 election. The FGA estimated that more than 80% of the funding went to areas Biden won by an average of 37 points. 
Jason Snead, the executive director of the Honest Elections Project, a group that has urged states to ban the use of outside funding for elections, praised the move in a statement obtained by The Daily Wire. 
“Honest Elections Project Action congratulates Wisconsinites for voting to enshrine a ban on private influence on election administration in their state constitution,” Snead said. “Private influence schemes such as ZuckBucks in 2020 and ZuckBucks 2.0 in 2024 sow distrust in election outcomes, which is why they should be banned in all 50 states. Moneyed interests, conservative and liberal alike, have no business influencing how elections are administered.”

A Voters Fills Out Their Ballot At A Polling Station In Green Bay Wisconsin

Wisconsin Voters Approve GOP-Backed Amendment To Ban Private Funding For Elections

2020 Election

Joe Biden

Milwaukee

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/republican-national-committee-rnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican National Committee</a> filed another election-related lawsuit against Democratic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michigan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a> Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over her enforcement of signature verification law.
The <a href="https://prod-static.gop.com/media/documents/Summonses_Verified_Complaint_and_Exhibits_1711648258.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a>, filed on Thursday, says that Benson directed local election officials before the February 2024 presidential primary election to presume that an absentee voter’s signature was legitimate. The RNC <a href="https://gop.com/press-release/rnc-sues-michigan-secretary-of-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> this directive as “secret instructions” that were given “outside the public eye.”
“Michigan’s State Constitution is very clear: election officials have to verify the identity of voters casting absentee ballots,” RNC Chair Michael Whatley said in a statement. “Jocelyn Benson is yet again working to undermine election integrity by secretly instructing officials to disregard and circumvent these clear requirements. The RNC is suing Benson because Michiganders deserve election integrity, not underhanded Democrat schemes.”
The lawsuit said that the presumption of validity undercut state law requiring verification of absentee ballot signatures.
“While the Michigan Constitution expressly mandates that election officials ‘verify the identity’ of any voter who applies for an absent voter ballot or who votes an absent voter ballot other than in person by completing the signature comparison scheme outlined above, see Const 1963, art 2, § 4(1)(h), the Secretary has instructed local election officials to apply a ‘presumption of validity’ to those signatures,” the lawsuit says.
The suit was filed in Michigan state court by the RNC, the Michigan Republican Party, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and several Michigan voters. The plaintiffs want Benson’s actions to be declared unlawful and they want a judge to make her retract her Signature Verification Instructions.
Similar instructions from Benson before the November 2020 election <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/15/judge-rules-secretary-state-bensons-ballot-signature-verification-guidance-invalid/4699927001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were ruled</a> &#8220;invalid&#8221; in March 2021 with a state judge saying that Benson had acted outside of the law. Michigan is again expected to be a hotly contested state with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump gearing up for a rematch.
Earlier this month, the RNC filed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rnc-sues-michigan-secretary-of-state-over-inflated-voter-rolls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another lawsuit</a> against Benson, accusing her office of maintaining inaccurate voter rolls.
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According to the <a href="https://prod-static.gop.com/media/documents/1_Complaint_1710344302.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a>, at least 53 counties in Michigan have more active registered voters than adult citizens over the age of 18. According to the RNC, the number of counties with registration rates above 100% ballooned after 2020, when only one county had that rate.
The suit also said that 23 counties have voter-registration rates of over 90% of eligible adults registered, which is far above the average national and statewide rate.
Under Whatley’s leadership, the RNC hired two new election-focused lawyers, Charlie Spies, who will serve as the RNC’s chief counsel, and Christina Bobb, a Trump campaign lawyer who has challenged the outcome of the 2020 election.

Last Day Of Early Voting In Michigan Presidential Primary

RNC Files Another Election-Related Lawsuit Against Democrat Michigan Secretary of State

Michigan

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