Try and Stop Us Digest — October 22, 2026

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Trump Has Turned His Immigration Agents Loose On Voters

Armed federal agents are knocking on doors in several states to ask residents whether they've registered to vote or voted. CBS News: A CBS News investigation found that Homeland Security Investigations agents, some carrying firearms, have been questioning residents about their immigration status and voting history, with the visits ramping up in September. According to internal documents, hundreds of agents were pulled off their cases for a "Criminal Voter Fraud" initiative that includes "field reviews" in at least six states: California, Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. Eric Balliet, a former HSI agent, said: "In my 23 years with HSI, I never engaged in or was aware of any incident of initiative that sent Special Agents to private residences to verify the eligibility of voters.". Jessica Marsden, a lawyer for Protect Democracy, which is suing over the door-knocking, noted that DHS said it had identified nearly 16,000 noncitizens on Nevada's voter rolls but was ultimately unable to provide evidence of a single illegally registered voter, and said the campaign looks "maximally designed to scare lawful voters from participating."

Trump’s hunt for noncitizen voters is being run by “zealots,” a former HSI official says, with Stephen Miller calling the shots. The New Yorker: Political appointees at the top of DHS and the White House are directing the department’s search for noncitizens on the voter rolls, and between 10% and 15% of HSI agents have been pulled into investigating voter fraud. A former HSI official said the head of HSI is reporting directly to Stephen Miller and, “They won’t believe anything that doesn’t prove their point.” Since August ICE officers have also been asking detainees “Have you voted in a federal election?” and whether they voted by mail or in person. Jason Houser, a former ICE official, said: "You question enough people, particularly individuals who may be intimidated or confused by federal agents, and you're going to get inconsistent statements," adding: "That doesn't establish voter fraud, but it can generate investigative reports, referrals, and individual cases that the Administration could later point to as evidence of a broader problem. So far the hunt has produced little: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed DHS found more than 250,000 potential noncitizens on the rolls in four states with no evidence, and DHS told Pennsylvania officials in August that it “did not have high confidence” in the 15,000 names it flagged there.

Democrats Sue To Stop Trump's Threats Against Election Officials

Democrats sued to stop Trump’s DOJ and DHS from threatening election officials and pressuring states to purge voters. Washington Post / Democracy Docket: Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, the DSCC, DCCC and DGA, the Nevada Democratic Party and a naturalized citizen from California filed suit Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., asking a judge to block the administration from threatening state and local election officials with prosecution and pressuring states to remove voters from their rolls. The suit argues that the threats amount to illegal voter intimidation, and it cites Trump’s warning last week that California election officials would “go to jail for a long period of time” if they counted ballots from people the administration claims are noncitizens. It says the administration’s lists of alleged noncitizens are “shoddily compiled,” pointing to Nevada, where DHS claimed up to 16,000 noncitizens, sent over 185 names, and state officials found all 185 were citizens. “Thwarted in Congress and the courts, the administration has now simply disregarded the tools Congress provided it and fashioned its own cudgels instead,” the complaint says.

Trump And Republicans Escalate Their Attacks On Voting

The Justice Department is weighing election lawsuits against more states, and won't say whether it will try to delay certification of votes. NBC News: A Justice Department official told NBC News that DOJ is considering litigation before or after Election Day against states that automatically mail ballots to all registered voters: Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington, as well as Washington, D.C. The official said DOJ will keep pressing California to segregate ballots from the voters on its list and believes it can do so for 30 days after the election, but would not say whether DOJ would seek to delay certification until a state complies. Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department Voting Section attorney, says the department has no statutory authority to urge a delay in certification.

House Republicans subpoenaed New Jersey for noncitizen voter records. Politico: House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, House Administration Chair Bryan Steil and Reps. Laurel Lee and Jeff Van Drew issued the subpoena to Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration, demanding records on noncitizens registered to vote in the state and giving it until Nov. 16 to comply. Sherrill says Republicans are “choosing to play political games” instead of “addressing issues Americans care about, like skyrocketing prices.”

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr warned broadcasters not to cover "fake" election polls, claiming their licenses bar it. Washington Post: Carr wrote on X Wednesday that broadcasters need to avoid "amplifying or airing" fake election polls, saying they "are prohibited by the terms of their federal licenses from engaging in News Distortion or promoting Broadcast Hoaxes." His warning came a day after a group calling itself Wedgewood Polls admitted it published fabricated polls as an "experiment," but it's not clear any broadcaster covered them. Anna Gomez, the FCC's lone Democrat, said: "FCC rules on news distortion or hoaxes do not apply to a station that reports this data in good faith." Enrique Armijo, a First Amendment scholar at Elon University, said Carr is "attempting once again to intimidate journalists from airing news that his boss does not like."

Early Voting Is Surging Across The Country

More than 12.6 million Americans have already voted in the midterms, with early turnout surging in Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina. Axios: The University of Florida Election Lab's tracker shows 12,618,084 early votes as of Oct. 20, including 8,350,858 mail ballots and 4,267,226 cast in person. In Georgia, more than 1 million ballots have been cast, equal to 25.9% of the state's total turnout in 2022, and Virginia is close behind at 770,916 ballots, or 25.5%. Dallas County, Texas, reported a record 76,079 in-person votes on Monday, the first day of early voting, topping its previous record set in 2020. In North Carolina, early voting was running 37% ahead of the same point in 2022 as of Oct. 18, with registered Democrats casting more than twice as many ballots as Republicans.

In The States

ALASKA — An Alaska judge says the state may have violated voters' privacy rights when it handed DOJ an unredacted copy of its voter list. Alaska Beacon: Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman refused to dismiss a lawsuit by the League of Women Voters, the Alaska Black Caucus and the Alaska chapter of the ACLU over the list, which included driver's license numbers, home addresses and partial Social Security numbers. As part of the handover, Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher signed a memo agreeing to remove voters within 45 days if DOJ deems them ineligible, and allowing DOJ to share the data with a private contractor and store it out of DOJ control. Zeman wrote: "Instead, the state has given DOJ carte blanche to submit whenever it pleases, a list of whosoever names it decides, for whatever reason DOJ determines, for any number of eligible voters." The case now goes to discovery.

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina's governor is urging voters to cast ballots in person, warning that new Republican rules are getting thousands of mail ballots thrown out. Raleigh News & Observer: Gov. Josh Stein said Tuesday that the State Board of Elections' last-minute rule requiring officials to "spoil" any mail ballot whose inner envelope isn't sealed is leading to "thousands more" rejections. "It's infuriating," he wrote. "North Carolinians, please make a plan to vote this year, in-person if possible. And if you're voting by mail, make sure you seal both envelopes on your ballot. Don't let them take away your vote." County data show the problem: Mecklenburg County has rejected 257 ballots for sealing reasons, about 4.6% of the mail ballots cast there, and Johnston County reports 4%. The State Board of Elections says its own preliminary data show a 3.1% spoiled-ballot rate, compared with 2.6% at this point in 2022.

SOUTH CAROLINA — A South Carolina county closed six voting sites, a move the ACLU says hits more than 61% of its Black voting population. Democracy Docket: The Republican-controlled election board in Clarendon County closed the sites ahead of the midterms, leaving eight precincts voting at four locations, and the ACLU of South Carolina told the State Election Commission in an Oct. 8 letter that the closures violate state law, which lets only the General Assembly, not county boards, establish precincts. The ACLU says Black voters are twice as likely as white voters to be affected, and that about 10% of the county's voting-age population will now have to travel outside their precinct to vote. Patricia Pringle, the county auditor and Democratic Party chair, said: "They're disenfranchising voters so that they can keep an eye on them." She believes the board also fired its last two elections directors, one after six weeks on the job, for pushing back on the closures.

VIRGINIA — Arlington County sued to keep armed federal agents away from polling places, citing what Trump's homeland security secretary and FBI director have said they could do. The Washington Sun: The Arlington County Board filed suit Tuesday in federal court accusing DHS and DOJ of crafting policies that would let armed federal officers, including FBI and ICE agents, carry out civil and immigration enforcement at election sites, and argues the policies violate an 1865 law barring troops from the polls. Armed agents at polling places "are likely to disrupt the peaceful exercise of voting rights," the complaint says, and Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said: "These statements are a clear attempt to stoke fear and undermine confidence in our elections."