Try and Stop Us Digest — September 18, 2026

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Virginia AG Says DHS Broke State Law Hunting "Noncitizen" Voters

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is demanding DHS immediately halt a voter-fraud hunt he says likely violated state law — and turn over any Virginia-related records. New York Times: Jones's letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin cites Virginia statutes making it unlawful to access another voter's record, arguing agents who falsely certified they were looking up their own registration "may be violating several Virginia criminal statutes." He also pointed to the DHS whistleblower's account that the department's own counsel told agents they wouldn't be personally liable — evidence, Jones argues, that leadership knew the searches likely broke the law. A spokeswoman for Jones said the office "will take all appropriate actions to preserve Virginians' private information and the integrity of our elections."

Show Me Chaos: New Court Hearings and Lawsuits In The Endless Fight Over Missouri Districts

Republican candidates asked a federal appeals court Thursday for one more shot at reviving their gerrymandered map, even with ballots due to overseas voters by Sept. 19. St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Rep. Bob Onder and state Sen. Rick Brattin are asking the 8th Circuit to bar use of any map but the 2025 GOP-drawn version, despite the Missouri and U.S. Supreme Courts already blocking it twice. One law professor called it an "audition for a vacant Supreme Court slot" for a Trump-appointed judge on the panel. Washington University's Travis Crum: "The 2022 maps will be used for 2026 midterms" no matter how long Republicans keep litigating.

A second group of Missouri voters is now suing Secretary of State Denny Hoskins over the map chaos, seeking $500 per person for thousands forced to vote in different districts in the primary than they will in November. St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The suit, filed in Cole County, points to the bad-faith foot-dragging that already got Hoskins held in contempt by the state Supreme Court. It's the second class-action suit against Hoskins in a week; the first seeks up to $80 million.

DOJ's Voter Roll Grab Hits 0-24 After Losing In Vermont

A federal judge in Vermont just handed DOJ its 24th straight courtroom loss in the fight to seize states' unredacted voter rolls. Democracy Docket: U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Lanthier ruled DOJ never identified any actual basis for suspecting Vermont was violating federal voting law — the same defect that's sunk nearly every other state's case, including a 6th Circuit appeal DOJ also lost. Lanthier: "The United States has provided no factual basis for its demand, as it has not alleged that Vermont is out of compliance with any federal election law."

1 In 10 Americans Are Now In A New House District — Courtesy Of Trump's Redistricting War

Over 10% of U.S. residents live in a different congressional district than they did in 2024, after Trump-triggered mid-decade redistricting swept the country. Democracy Docket: A new Protect Democracy report found 34.8 million people's districts changed, warning of a "two-party doom loop" that could bring "near-perpetual maximalist gerrymandering" after November. The report's authors warn voters shuffled between districts every two years "will begin to feel like their elected leaders are choosing them, not the other way around."

USPS Confirms It's Stopped Building Trump's Mail-Ballot Screening System

Postmaster General David Steiner says the agency has halted work on the computer system central to Trump's mail-voting crackdown now that a court has blocked it — but left the door open to reviving pieces of it later. AP: Steiner told AP "there's an injunction so we're not doing anything," distancing himself from the policy itself and calling himself just the "execution side." He acknowledged reading only "portions" of a whistleblower report calling the system rushed and error-prone. Justice Kavanaugh has already signaled he could side with Trump if the fight returns to the Supreme Court later.

States Are Quietly Prepping For ICE To Show Up At The Polls

Election officials in more than a dozen states are drilling staff on how to handle ICE agents at polling places, after Trump said he'd "do anything necessary" and DHS Secretary Mullin didn't rule it out. Axios: Officials in Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Colorado and Oregon described training poll workers to ask federal agents to leave and call the sheriff if they refuse. DHS insists ICE isn't planning polling-place operations but says agents could still make an arrest there if they encounter an "active public safety threat." New Mexico's Maggie Toulouse Oliver: not preparing for it "would be malpractice."

Trump Quietly Drops The International Observers Who've Watched Every US Election Since 2002

For the first time in over two decades, the U.S. hasn't invited the OSCE to observe a federal election. The New Republic: Democracy International president Eric Bjornlund called it "another data point" in the administration sowing doubt about whether U.S. elections will be "well-run and credible." The exclusion follows Trump's public meltdown over the Supreme Court's mail-ballot ruling days earlier.

In The States

VIRGINIA — Early voting for the midterms opened today across the state. VPM: Voters will decide three constitutional amendments, including one restoring voting rights for people with past felony convictions. Virginia allows same-day registration, though same-day registrants cast provisional ballots.

WISCONSIN — If either party wins full control of state government in November it could finally break years of gridlock on election law. Votebeat: A Democratic trifecta would likely mean automatic voter registration and faster ballot processing; Republicans would likely push proof-of-citizenship requirements. UW-Madison's Barry Burden: "I don't see big changes coming in state law, almost regardless of what partisan configuration the state ends up with."

What Experts Are Saying

Columnist Errol Louis argues the press is under-covering the real possibility that Trump and his allies could try to steal, subvert, or cancel the midterms outright. "It's a mistake to treat November 3 as a normal contest between Republicans and Democrats when powerful forces are pursuing a much darker outcome." — Errol Louis, New York Magazine