Ineligible votes are exceedingly rare, yet treated as a grave threat to our elections.
But when far more ballots from eligible voters get rejected over technicalities, nobody bats an eye.
And the imbalance works to Trump's advantage.
Find more details here: https://demdock.com/4zfOYLe
It’s a federal crime to send armed federal agents to the polls. So why does the Trump administration keep suggesting it?
“The answer is … Donald Trump wants to, to use his words, cheat like hell,” Marc Elias says.
This isn't over. Stay close: https://demdock.com/3Tj7W3I
You can watch the video on YouTube here.
September 29, 2026 - Fulltext
The U.S. National Security Agency and other military intelligence and cybersecurity forces will guard election systems during the November midterms, Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethsaid Monday.
Military cybersecurity experts have routinely helped monitor systems and deter potential hackers since election equipment was designated “critical infrastructure” in 2017. But Hegseth’s announcement comes after President Donald Trump gutted the civilian agencyspecifically created to safeguard election infrastructure, a division of the Department of Homeland Security called the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
That agency last week released an election infrastructure security plan that lays out potential threats to election systems and lists services it would offer to election officials to protect the vote.
Both announcements come just weeks before Election Day on Nov. 3 and with early voting already underway. The short timeline “suggests this is just theater,” said David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who leads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research.
“If the administration was serious about assisting state and local election officials, they shouldn’t have dismantled all of the federal government’s election cybersecurity capacity and fired all their experts in early 2025,” he said.
Early voting is already underway.
Though cybersecurity assistance from the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command is routine, many elections experts, civil rights groups and Democratic election officials are on guard for signs of meddling in voting or ballot counting by the Trump administration. The president continues to push false claims that elections are rife with fraud while trying to interfere with longstanding election procedures.
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked an attempt by Trump to restrict mail voting but has allowed the use of a federal database to check the citizenship of voters.
In a memo dated Sept. 22 and publicly announced Monday, Hegseth directed defense intelligence officials to mobilize every resource “to defend our election infrastructure from foreign malign influence and ensure that every lawful voter can cast their ballot free from foreign intimidation, coercion, or fear.”
Former special counsel Jack Smith testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on allegations of targeting Republican lawmakers during his tenure.
Source here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/FdAjPKquoK4?is=5kn3meIWRDj35uFH
President Ronald Reagan’s administration effectively ended the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 through Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policy changes and a presidential veto.
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/topic-guide/fairness-doctrine
September 8, 2026 - VIdeo Summary
This video, presented by Jen Psaki on MS NOW, discusses the strategy behind the Republican Party's Common Sense vs Crazy messaging for the 2026 midterm elections.
Key takeaways:
September 7, 2026 - Transcript
When we win this race, the first bill I'm filing as your U.S. Senator is a comprehensive anti-corruption agenda.
Getting big money out of our politics by overturning Citizens United, banning corporate PACs and super PACs so billionaires aren't making unlimited donations to our campaigns, and banning members of Congress from trading stocks and enriching themselves while they're in public office.
We're also going to go after the forms of corruption that don't involve money.
We must pass term limits so people aren't making a career out of public service.
We must, we must overhaul the Supreme Court so we can have confidence in the highest court in the land, and we must pass a national ban to end gerrymandering once and for all in every state in the Union.
There are other issues in this country that we would rather be addressing. But the fight of our generation is the fight for democracy, Marc Elias says.
“We’re not going to solve any of those other problems if we don’t have a functioning election system.”
Join our fight: https://demdock.com/3Tj7W3I
September 8, 2026 - Fulltext
The next No Kings events will feature mass voter turnout efforts nationwide on Oct. 17, organizers announced.
They have worked to build a nationwide network of advocates over the past 18 months, hoping to increase turnout ahead of the midterm elections.
The No Kings coalition includes labor organizations, progressive activists, civil rights groups and faith leaders. Among them: American Federation of Teachers, Black Voters Matter Fund, Voto Latino, Indivisible, MoveOn and Public Citizen.
"The time for sending a message is over," Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin told USA TODAY. "Now we are headed into an important point in a democracy, which is whether the people stand up and refuse to allow an authoritarian to consolidate power. And the way to do that in a democracy is by exercising your right to vote and by exercising your right to organize to prevent any sabotage in that election."
The name No Kings comes from the organizers' belief that Trump is acting like a monarch rather than the leader of a democracy.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis dismissed the action. “What King are they protesting? This is more Trump derangement syndrome. We are lucky to have a President who works around the clock to Make America Great Again,” Bis said.
The previous three No Kings events largely focused on thousands of rallies and protests to bring millions of Americans into the streets in small towns, suburbs and large cities. Having hyper-local events meant organizers could immediately connect participants with ways to help their communities, including registering voters and supplying food banks.
"The goal of those tactics was to send a message that people aren't afraid to exercise their constitutional rights. People aren't going to be cowed by an authoritarian regime that is threatening to come at them with the National Guard, with a goon squad, that we're here, we're not going away," Levin said. "That message, I think, was sent and was received."
The last No Kings, held in March, included events in communities in all 50 states and every congressional district, including rural and Republican areas.
No Kings events are tailored and run by locals, not by national groups.
For example, expect block parties, marches, fairs, neighborhood gatherings and barbecues, said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen.
"We're going to be engaging on a more hyper-local level," Gilbert said. "You should expect more small, exciting events that stress community, that are about either going out together right from the event to vote early or making a plan to do so."
By Oct. 17, in-person early voting will have begun in more than half of states. Many states will have already sent out paper ballots.
In Harrison, Arkansas, local organizers will be outside the county courthouse, helping people plan to vote early. In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, they will canvass, phone bank and write postcards. And attendees are encouraged to wear superhero costumes and wave flags and signs in Frisco, Texas, where in-person early voting will not have started yet.
"The precise nature of this is going to be different, but the vibe of joyful community power is going to be the same," Levin said.
In the swing states of Alaska, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, training will be offered for how to respond to attempts to interfere with the election or intimidate voters, Levin said.
At past No Kings, organizers looked at the numbers of events and people who turned out to determine whether they were successful. Each action was larger than the one before. The success of the Oct. 17 actions will be determined by how many people vote early, Levin said.
"The goal before was to send a message and recruit volunteers to do more civic engagement work. The goal this time is to not just send a message. (It is) to take back power for the people through the biggest early vote that we've ever seen in this country, and to prepare a nationwide force to push back against the sabotage that comes our way," Levin said.
Levin said the next No Kings event will be "Election Day."
September 3, 2026 - Fulltext
AUSTIN, Texas — A Fort Worth man is facing a criminal charge after investigators say he sent multiple violent threats to Texas state Rep. and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico through online accounts later traced back to him.
Billy James McFatridge is charged with terroristic threat against a public servant, according to an arrest affidavit.
Investigators said McFatridge threatened to "slit" Talarico's throat and drag his body through the streets in messages sent to Talarico's campaign email and Instagram account in early August.
The Texas Department of Public Safety's Criminal Investigation Division was notified of the threats on Aug. 12 by Talarico's chief of staff.
According to the affidavit, the first message was sent Aug. 3 to Talarico's campaign email from an account using the name "GANGSTEROFLOVE817." A second threatening message was sent Aug. 11 through Instagram from an account called "GODFATHEROFLOVE817."
Investigators obtained search warrants for subscriber information from Google and Meta. Google provided information identifying McFatridge as the owner of the Gmail account, according to the affidavit.
DPS agents interviewed McFatridge at his workplace Aug. 19. Investigators said he admitted owning both accounts and sending the messages but said he did not intend to hurt anyone and "had just wanted to scare" Talarico.
According to the affidavit, McFatridge also told investigators he had access to several firearms, including a rifle, pistol and shotgun.
Talarico and several members of his staff provided sworn statements saying the messages made them fear for their safety, according to the affidavit. Talarico said he believed additional security would be necessary at upcoming campaign events, including one in the Fort Worth area.
Park Dietz, founder and president of Threat Assessment Group, told CBS Austin that threats against political figures are common, particularly for those who attract controversy.
"Every political figure receives all sorts of strange communications, including threats, and those who are controversial tend to get even more threats," Dietz said.
Dietz said assessing a threat involves determining whether it is plausible and examining other factors that could indicate how seriously it should be taken.
"When we're doing threat assessment, we don't actually consider credibility so much as plausibility," Dietz said. "Some threats are implausible, such as 'I am going to blow up the planet.' But if a threat is plausible, we're looking for other things to determine how worried one should be."
Investigators also cited two previous incidents involving McFatridge. In 2018, he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after Fort Worth police investigated an altercation in which he allegedly stabbed his mother with what the affidavit described as a "long stick with a blade at the end of it." In 2023, police said McFatridge sent a threatening message to a former supervisor.
Darryl Paulson, emeritus professor of government at the University of South Florida, told CBS Austin that threats against political figures are escalating.
"Really, the time to stop any political violence in the United States was yesterday," Paulson said. "It's not tomorrow. It was months ago, years ago."
Dietz said making threats online may be easy, but those responsible can underestimate authorities' ability to identify them.
"Threats are cheap and easy to make," Dietz said. "People don't expect to be caught."
DPS investigators requested several bond conditions if McFatridge is released from jail, including GPS monitoring, a mental health evaluation, a prohibition on possessing firearms and orders barring him from contacting Talarico or his staff or going near the Texas Capitol complex.
McFatridge is charged with terroristic threat against a public servant, a Class A misdemeanor.