Six years ago, Kristen Clarke was the first Black woman to serve as the DOJ's civil rights chief.
The department has since “fully retreated from the mission,” and voting rights, in particular, has seen true decimation.
But Clarke is ready to fight for a democracy we need and deserve.
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A Colorado court ruled that convicted election denier Tina Peters — who is serving a nine-year sentence in prison for her role in a voting system breach — should be resentenced.
The ruling marks a setback for crucial efforts to hold those working to undermine fair elections accountable.
NEW: New Hampshire has banned student IDs for voting, adding to a ever-growing list of GOP restrictions ahead of the midterms.
NEW: RNC sued to strip voting rights from a group of U.S. citizens living abroad who use or have used their parent’s last Virginia address to vote.
The case mirrors similar GOP efforts in other states, signaling a broad push to limit ballot access for certain overseas voters before the midterms.
NEW: DOJ Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon attended the wedding of Caroline Wren, a key organizer of the Jan. 6 rally.
The appearance highlights her ongoing ties to figures connected to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, amid reports of a potential promotion within the department.
Trump last week issued an executive order attacking mail-in voting.
Now, legal battles led by Democrats are rapidly unfolding.
It can be hard to keep up — subscribe today to get all of the insights and analysis on the fight:
After Trump signed a sweeping executive order attacking mail-in voting, Democrats said: “See you in court. You will lose.”
While the legal challenges to the order rapidly rise, the president, when signing the directive, appeared ready to start trying to pressure judges who might hear them.
NEW: A Politico profile cast DOJ Civil Rights head Harmeet Dhillon as an underdog pushing back on “woke ideology.”
Our coverage has differed sharply, highlighting the division's abrupt anti-voting shift under her leadership.
You won’t find that given the attention it deserves in legacy media.
A group linked to tech billionaire Peter Thiel contributed $2.5 million to the PAC that sparked outrage last month by sending out mailers targeting Black voters that compared the referendum to the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow-era voting restrictions.
ICYMI: A Republican sheriff in California seized over 650,000 ballots cast in last year’s voter-approved redistricting referendum.
Election lawyer Marc Elias explains how this fits into Trump’s plan to subvert the 2026 midterm elections.
GOP officials from Pa. and Maricopa County, Ariz. say they are confident that Trump's anti-voting exec order would lose in court. They also accused Trump of trying to confuse voters - "never a positive thing, unless you are seeking to sow distrust in the outcome of an election.”
📽️ NEW: Trump has fired Pam Bondi as attorney general, and her replacement could be someone even more hostile to voting rights.
Marc Elias is joined by Democracy Docket Legal Content Editor Ashley Cleaves to analyze Bondi's legacy and discuss the implications of this move for the 2026 elections.
NEW: Reports claim civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon may be promoted to Associate Attorney General, DOJ's third ranking official. If true, it would appear she's being rewarded for her anti-voting agenda - even if her many blunders as chief have stopped her from effectively carrying out that agenda.
Trump took a major swing at grabbing control of elections, but was met with 5 lawsuits to block his anti-voting exec order. Also, since AG Pam Bondi was fired, DOJ civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon is floated as possible successor, for shifting dept from protecting voting rights to attacking them.
The DOJ is claiming key details about its seizure of 2020 election ballots in Fulton County are too sensitive to disclose in court.
But in a very on-brand fashion, Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon may have already laid them out on social media.
📽️NEW: Sen. Alex Padilla joins Marc Elias to discuss Trump's new executive order targeting mail voting, which mandates the DHS to create a list of verified U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state.
The worst part? Only those on that list will receive mail ballots.
https://bit.ly/4maBBq1
NEW: A fifth lawsuit against Trump's sweeping executive order restricting and unconstitutionally federalizing mail-in voting is in play -- this one filed by voting rights groups NAACP, Common Cause and Black Voters Matter. The complaint asks judge to render the order completely 'unenforceable.'
As the number of GOP-led states resisting the DOJ’s voter roll crusade continues to grow, so do the department’s retaliatory lawsuits against them.
Idaho became the latest target in the DOJ’s legal effort forcing states to hand over private voter data such as names and social security numbers.
NEW: A quadruple increase in rejected mail-in ballots in California may be tied to recent changes in how USPS now collects and postmarks mail. This could be a troubling sign for future elections if Trump's executive order on restricting mail-in voting is allowed to stand.
The DOJ is starting to look a lot like a new season of The Apprentice.
Pam Bondi just heard those famous words — “you’re fired” — and the casting call for her replacement is already underway. With Harmeet Dhillon rumored to be her successor, which loyalist do you think is next to lead the DOJ?
NEW: Georgia GOP leaders declined to bring forward bill that would've granted extra time to convert state voting system from machine to paper ballots, as required by a new law. This means "widespread confusion" for voters if election officials can't make the total system makeover by July 1.
The dscc.bsky.social, dccc.bsky.social, DNC and Democratic leaders sued to block Trump's order targeting mail voting, claiming it seeks to "upturn the electoral playing field" ahead of the 2026 midterms.
At the center of the suit? A constitutional principle that presidents do not control elections.
📽️NEW: @raskin.house.gov discusses Trump’s continued decimation of the Constitution, efforts to seize control of elections and the DOJ’s transformation into his personal law firm.
As Trump continues to trample on Congress’ power, Raskin says it’s not happening on his watch.
https://bit.ly/3NJaDcF
NEW: The DOJ is claiming it can’t share details about when its criminal investigation into Fulton County began.
But a social media post from the department’s Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon may have already shared a sequence that aligns with the theory Fulton County is arguing in court.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state’s SAVE America Act requiring voters to prove citizenship status into law.
While the measure won’t go into effect until after midterms, pro-voting groups warn that, contrary to its stated goal, it will actually prevent citizens from voting.
BREAKING: 23 Democratic attorneys general sued to block Trump’s new executive order targeting mail voting, arguing it unconstitutionally violates states’ power to oversee elections.
The lawsuit marks the fourth legal challenge to the order, which the president signed three days ago.
NEW: Trump’s new executive order targeting mail voting might kill the DOJ’s legal campaign for access to states’ unredacted voter data.
Why? Though the DOJ denied the data would be used for federal immigration purposes, the order mandates DHS to establish a national voter registration database.
NEW: New polling reveals a slim majority of Virginians favor Democrats’ redistricting plan that aims to win the party up to four more seats in Congress and counter GOP gerrymanders in other states.
Early voting is ongoing, with election day coming up April 21.
LOSS: A Colorado court ruled that election denier Tina Peters — who was sentenced to prison for her role in a 2021 voting system breach — should be resentenced.
The ruling follows mounting pressure from Trump who has called for her release and even granted her a legally meaningless “pardon.”
