Try and Stop Us Digest — August 18, 2026

Must Read

Trump Votes By Mail. Then Calls It A Fraud When You Do It.

Trump cast a mail ballot in Florida's primary. He's spent the entire summer trying to make sure you can't do the same. Politico: Voting records show Trump's ballot was requested in late July and returned Aug. 13. The White House said mail voting should have "commonsense exceptions" for illness, disability, military service, or travel, but that "universal mail-in voting should not be allowed" — calling reporting on Trump voting by mail himself "a non-story."

DOJ's Voter Roll Crusade Is Now 0-23

A federal judge dismissed DOJ's demand for Minnesota's voter data, comparing the government's tactics to an illegal "fishing expedition." Minnesota Reformer: "An ordinary litigant isn't allowed to seek discovery first and allege a claim later, and the federal government has no special privilege to do so either," wrote Judge Katherine Menendez. Minnesota's Secretary of State Steve Simon called the demands "sweeping data requests... we have never seen before."

"I Don't Trust You": An Election Security Call With The Feds Blew Up On Monday

Arizona's Secretary of State unloaded on federal cybersecurity officials after they offered no real help ahead of November — just a generic briefing focused on 2028 instead. Votebeat: "They don't work with us, they work against us," Adrian Fontes told CISA officials directly on the call. "Why should I trust them?" Minnesota's Steve Simon agreed: "It's pretty clear states are almost entirely on their own this election cycle."

DOJ Is Sending 1,000 Monitors To Watch The Midterms

Even as Harmeet Dhillon touts a wave of new federal monitors, she still won't say which states supposedly have "hundreds of thousands" of dead voters or "tens of thousands" of noncitizens on the rolls. Bloomberg: "This is going to be... probably going to be a historic number for a Republican administration," Dhillon said. She claimed noncitizen voting "depresses citizens from turning out to vote" — without citing evidence for either claim.

In The States

MICHIGAN — 13 Detroit voters had their ballots left behind on Election Day and now they won't be counted at all. Votebeat: The ballots arrived on time but were never logged into the state's voter database after being mistakenly left at the clerk's office. "There's no malice involved," said the board's chair, but advocates for the disenfranchised voters could still go to court.

NORTH CAROLINA — Gov. Stein vetoed a sweeping GOP elections bill that would have cut early voting and made it easier to toss ballots after an election. Democracy Docket: "Legislators are trying to make it harder for you to vote, and for your vote to count, because they know they have not delivered for you," Stein said. Republicans have already overridden three of his vetoes this summer; it's unclear if they have the votes to override this one too.

What Experts Are Saying

Washington's Secretary of State says rebuilding trust takes more than one phone call from CISA. "While this engagement is encouraging, CISA and our other federal partners must focus on continuing to rebuild trust with election officials. Election officials need sustained commitment to supporting local elections, not renewed attention only as major elections approach. Meaningful support will do more to rebuild relationships than words alone." — Steve Hobbs, Washington Secretary of State, Votebeat