Try and Stop Us Digest — September 4, 2026

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Judge Appears Ready To Rule Against Trump's Mail Voting Restrictions Again

A federal judge repeatedly asked DOJ lawyers whether USPS could actually pull off Trump's mail-voting rule in time for November — and they couldn't answer. Democracy Docket: "We've been here for a week and you can't tell me the government is ready to go?" Judge Talwani asked, incredulous, at Thursday's hearing in Boston. When a Missouri lawyer suggested letting some states "test run" the rule during the actual election, Talwani shot back: "We're not talking about an intellectual puzzle game. We're talking about people's right to vote."

DOJ Runs To The Supreme Court To Implement Mail Voting Restrictions

Rather than wait for Talwani's ruling, the administration skipped straight to the justices asking them to lift the block on the mail voting rule themselves. New York Times: Solicitor General John Sauer claimed the delay would cause "serious irreparable harm." Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson gave challengers until Tuesday to respond, declining to grant the administration's request for immediate relief. "The only emergency here is the one the administration created," said the ACLU's Sophia Lin Lakin.

States Say It Would Take Decades To Comply With Trump's Mail Voting Rule

One California official's math: scanning every mail ballot in the state under the new rule would take 43 years. New York's estimate: over 500 work-weeks just to enter voter data. CBS News: "It is effectively impossible for these requirements to be implemented in advance of 2026 without causing mass disenfranchisement and ballot delays," said Anna Baldwin of the Campaign Legal Center. Wisconsin's Republican elections chair, Don Millis, didn't mince words either: "It's not the first time that Republicans at the national level have shot themselves in the foot."

Missouri Blocks Trump's Gerrymander. Trump Melts Down.

The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ruled Missourians must get to vote on the map Republicans rammed through in 2025, ordering the state back to its old district lines for November. Missouri Independent: Missouri's secretary of state called it a "constitutional crisis" and vowed to keep fighting. Trump freaked out on Truth Social: "The Missouri Supreme Court just ridiculously ruled in favor of changing the maps back to what they were a long time ago. It's called, Ancient History!... This is a Dark Day for 'Justice' in Missouri!" The referendum's organizer had a different read: "The judges are fully aware that the secretary of state attempted to create chaos and confusion through delay, but delay does not change Missourians' constitutional rights."

Democrats Are Preparing Legal Teams, Poll Observers, And War Rooms For A Possible Stolen Election

Attorneys have drafted litigation for nearly every disruption scenario, and a new project aims to train tens of thousands of "democracy protectors" as poll observers nationwide.

NBC News: "Our team... has already begun preparing all of the materials we'll need to be in court in a heartbeat," said Democracy Defenders Action's Norm Eisen. Rep. Joe Morelle, tasked with leading House election-protection efforts, says his team has identified more than 100 potential threats to voting: "At any other time, you'd almost look at people as though they had lost their minds. But it's Donald Trump."

In The States

CALIFORNIA — An immigrant rights group sued to stop DHS from using databases it says could wrongly purge naturalized citizens from the rolls. AP: "It's not an accident the federal government is trying to interfere with the right to vote... They believe they can intimidate naturalized U.S. citizens," said Xavier Becerra, California's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, who's advising the legal team. DHS claims 190,832 potential noncitizens are on California's rolls alone — without providing evidence.

MARYLAND — The state's top court sent the redistricting question back to the ballot, but ordered clearer wording first. Baltimore Banner: The amendment would let Democrats redraw Maryland's map to target the state's only GOP-held seat. Ballots must start mailing Sept. 17, and the state elections administrator said Thursday he's "simply hoping for a quick resolution."

MICHIGAN — Both the U.S. and Michigan Supreme Courts rejected last-ditch appeals to save a proof-of-citizenship voting measure, ending its bid for the November ballot. Bridge Michigan: Justice Kavanaugh denied the request without explanation; Michigan's court called the group's request "extraordinary." The measure's backers, who submitted nearly 710,000 signatures, said they "fought until the very last possible moment."

NORTH CAROLINA — USPS approved the state's mail ballot envelopes days before it's set to become the first state to mail ballots this cycle. Democracy Docket: North Carolina voluntarily submitted its designs even as it remains one of two dozen states suing over Trump's order. "We will follow the law. We're watching to see what the courts do," said elections director Sam Hayes.

What Experts Are Saying

Stephen Richer, a Republican and former top Arizona election official who received death threats for defending the 2020 results, says nothing seems far-fetched anymore. "Maybe I lack the imagination a little bit for today's world because if you had told me that in January of 2026 the FBI was going to execute a warrant and remove materials from Fulton County for the 2020 election, I would have said, 'That seems far-fetched.' But indeed, it did happen." — Stephen Richer, NBC News