Guardrails and Grids: The High-Stakes Fight to Control State Democracy - Democracy in the States Roundup
Note: Don’t miss the next meeting of The Headstrong Club, a live conversation between Danielle Allen and Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor under President Barack Obama, on April 29 at 1:15PM Eastern.
It’s Friday, April 25, 2026, and time for your Democracy in the States: Weekly Roundup. Writing from Hawaii this week — home, finally — where the state legislature could become the first in the nation to neutralize Citizens’ United at the state level. The bill, which is in the final stage of the legislative process, would affirm that corporations, as entities governed by state law, don’t have the power to spend money on elections. It’s a novel approach to campaign finance reform that could be replicated across the country — provided the courts don’t strike it down.
That’s a common refrain in a few of this week’s bigger stories. In Virginia, voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment to allow mid-decade redistricting only to have a county judge issue a permanent injunction before the week was out. At the federal level, a new ProPublica investigation lays out in detail how the Trump White House has put into motion a systematic plan to take over 2026 midterm election administration state by state. Meanwhile, states are pushing back in courts across the country, resisting the administration’s demands for voter rolls. Rhode Island became the fifth state to beat back a DOJ lawsuit, while Michigan, Alaska, and Utah each mounted their own resistance.
Also, this week, the DOJ indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 fraud and money laundering counts tied to a decades-old paid informant program, a prosecution legal experts have widely dismissed as politically motivated.
And, lastly, Republican Sen. Tom Davis is acting as a one-man firewall against an abortion bill that could send women to prison for two years. The bill advanced out of committee by an 8-4 vote, mostly along party lines, with Davis casting the sole Republican no vote and pledging to block it on the Senate floor. One senator, standing against his own caucus — it’s the kind of moment we pay attention to at The Renovator.
Federal Election Takeover & States’ Positions
If you only click a single link here, make it this ProPublica investigation into the Trump administration’s systematic effort to reshape how 2026 midterm elections are administered, which is playing out in parallel with a federal campaign to extract voter rolls from resistant states, fresh challenges to mail voting, and an effort to strip military families of their ballots.
Mail voting & military ballots
As the administration seeks to exert unparalleled federal control over mail-in voting and voter eligibility through new executive orders, Republican attorneys general are moving to intervene in legal battles to support these federal restrictions.
NATIONAL: A dozen red states want to help defend Trump’s anti-mail voting executive order.
MICHIGAN: Michigan court tosses Republican suit challenging overseas voting for military spouses and children.
Voter data & DOJ demands
Federal courts are pushing back on the administration’s efforts to extract state voter rolls, and this week brought new evidence that the effort started earlier than previously known.
RHODE ISLAND: Federal judge rejects DOJ lawsuit against Rhode Island over voter rolls.
ALASKA: Civil rights groups sue Alaska Division of Elections for sharing voter rolls with DOJ.
MICHIGAN: ‘Absurd’ and ‘baseless’: Michigan officials push back on DOJ demand for 2024 election records.
UTAH: Utah voter group is ‘determined to act as a firewall’ against Trump’s DOJ.
PENNSYLVANIA: Federal court dismisses ‘election integrity’ group’s lawsuit over Pa. election rolls.
NATIONAL: Emails reveal DOJ officials planned to share voter rolls with DHS much earlier than they admitted.
Redistricting
What started as a Trump-pushed effort to “find more votes” was flipped on its head again this week in Virginia, where the process of redrawing maps has landed in a high-stakes legal stalemate.
VIRGINIA: Virginia voters back redistricting amendment after months of legal and political battles.
VIRGINIA: Virginia court blocks voter-approved redistricting, appeal coming.
FLORIDA: Eric Holder to Floridians: Tell Legislature its redistricting effort is ‘not acceptable’.
KANSAS: U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids celebrates end of GOP bid to gerrymander Kansas congressional districts.
Election Administration & Voting Systems
With election seasons well underway and district lines becoming clearer, states are still weighing changes to their electoral systems, even as the effects of previous changes impact voters.
Primary systems & ballot reform
LOUISIANA: Democratic voters shut out of picking Louisiana’s new Supreme Court justice.
TENNESSEE: In pushing partisan declarations in Tennessee’s open primary elections, the devil is in the details.
MASSACHUSETTS: Frustrated by voter initiatives, lawmakers plot ballot reform.
IDAHO: Idaho sends Congress a message to act on campaign finance reform.
Administration & audits
ALABAMA: Alabama elections now subject to audit, but bill sponsor wants some changes.
GEORGIA: Election officials left in limbo as state leaders contemplate next steps for ballot QR codes.
WASHINGTON: WA GOP leader says he has box of ballots found next to a Renton dumpster.
NEVADA: Nevada among nation’s best at administering elections, MIT report finds.
ARIZONA: Conservative groups lose appeal of election overhaul lawsuit.
ICE & Immigration Enforcement
The week’s immigration stories show two Americas: states mandating cooperation with federal enforcement while others create space for protests and pushback.
State & local policies
TENNESSEE: Every Tennessee sheriff required to work with ICE in legislation headed to the governor’s desk.
TENNESSEE: Bill requiring reporting of immigrants by public clinics, other agencies heads to governor’s desk.
ARIZONA: Arizona police agencies chose not to partner with ICE. This GOP bill would take that choice away.
MAINE: Cumberland County commissioners vote to stop holding ICE detainees in county jail.
CALIFORNIA: 9th Circuit blocks California limits on anonymous immigration agents.
Protests & local resistance
INDIANA: Federal judge grants injunction for ICE tracker sites.
MICHIGAN: Detainee speaks out as hunger strike continues at Michigan’s largest ICE detention center.
RHODE ISLAND: Brown union to pull $500K from Citizens Bank over ICE ties.
Health & Housing Needs
As most legislative sessions conclude, states continue to grapple with the repercussions of federal budget changes, requirements, and other uncertainties on their essential social programs.
Medicaid support
IDAHO: New federal Medicaid rules require one month of work. Some states like Idaho demand more.
MISSOURI, OKLAHOMA, and SOUTH DAKOTA: Republican lawmakers in 3 states want voters to alter or scrap Medicaid expansion.
SNAP requirements
ALABAMA: Federal budget changes to SNAP could cost Alabama up to $261 million.
RHODE ISLAND: Why Rhode Island can‘t afford to lose the race to reduce its SNAP error rate.
KANSAS: Food assistance audit finds potential $1.2 million paid to people living outside Kansas.
Housing policy
OREGON: Oregon governor signs housing bills addressing affordability, urban growth boundaries.
FLORIDA: The call for smaller lot sizes to ease Florida’s housing crisis.
CALIFORNIA: California blocks Trump administration from withholding homelessness funds.
AI, Data Centers, & Platform Governance
The most persistent issue transcending party lines is the development of artificial intelligence, with intraparty disagreements continuing over infrastructure, funding, and appropriate technology guardrails.
Data centers
MAINE: Gov. Mills vetoes landmark data center ban.
IOWA: US Energy secretary, visiting Iowa, says data centers will drive energy production.