Try and Stop Us Digest — August 5, 2026

Kansas Reflector: Kansas crushed a GOP plan to elect — and let mega-donors buy — Supreme Court justices, 62-38%. “They tried to turn our justices into politicians for sale, all so they could control the court's rulings and take away our rights. But tonight, Kansas said no,” said Micah Kubic of the ACLU of Kansas. At least $12.8 million, much of it dark money, fueled the campaign to pass it.

New York Times: Missouri voters rejected a measure that would have let 5% of the state block a constitutional amendment 95% of voters support. The Legislature wanted amendments to win majorities in all eight congressional districts, not just statewide — a threshold none of Missouri's last four successful citizen amendments, including abortion rights and a minimum wage hike, would have cleared.

Democracy Docket: A federal judge dismissed DOJ's Colorado lawsuit “with prejudice.” The U.S. Department of Justice is now zero for 20 in its lawsuits seeking to obtain state voter rolls, after a federal judge dismissed its case against Colorado. “Trump and his DOJ are attacking elections and democracy. We will not let them win,” said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. Of the 20 rulings against DOJ, 12 came from judges appointed by Republican presidents — 8 of those by Trump himself.

NOTUS: Democrats passed a constitutional amendment clearing the path to redraw the state's map and target its only Republican House seat. “We have seen how the federal government has told Republican states that they should do mid-decade redistricting but told Democratic states to sit on our hands,” said Gov. Wes Moore. Senate President Bill Ferguson, previously opposed, said the Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act ruling this spring changed his calculus. Voters decide on the amendment in November.

Fox News / Democracy Docket: Jim Jordan and Bryan Steil are demanding all HAVA, NVRA, and Civil Rights Act compliance records, the latest in a cascade of federal probes following an error that's had no significant impact on any election outcome. DOJ has already failed twice to get the state's data, losing both its demand for the 6,600 names and its broader lawsuit for unredacted rolls.

WESA: Activists are combing county jury-disqualification records for “evidence” of noncitizen voters — using data the state says can't actually identify anyone. Scott Presler's group says it found “65 pages of non-citizens” in one county's disqualified-juror list, amplified by Sen. Dave McCormick to nearly 2 million views. But the state elections department says juror records don't include addresses or birth dates — “not enough information used to accurately match each individual with the voter file.”

Democracy Docket: Tarrant County Republicans backed off a plan to cut nearly half the county's Election Day polling locations after voters packed the hearing room. The plan would have cut polling sites from 316 to 176 since the 2022 midterms in a county that's now half Black and Latino and increasingly competitive. “Who made these decisions? What criteria were used? Why wasn't there citizen input?” asked resident Harriet Harrell. Republicans tabled the vote.

Zeteo: Here are 19 — yes, 19! — ways Trump and Republicans are plotting to rig and steal the midterm elections

Washington Examiner: Democratic states warn Supreme Court that Trump mail ballot order would cause chaos ahead of midterm elections

Democracy Docket: Lawsuit seeks evidence of federal immigration agency's role in Trump's voter purge plans

Votebeat: Nonpartisan groups can resume registering newly naturalized citizens to vote at USCIS sites

Philadelphia Inquirer: N.J. GOP sees momentum for voter ID law after governor's comments in favor

Associated Press: Missouri election chief rejects bid to hold public vote on Trump-backed congressional districts

Nevada Current: Lawmakers eye proposals to shield elections from federal interference, speed up ballot processing

Votebeat: Despite concerns, Department of Justice monitors kept a low profile in Michigan primary