Not Exactly a Love Story: Federal Power Meets State Control

Feb 15, 2026

It’s February 14, 2026, and time for your Democracy in the States: Weekly Roundup. Happy Valentine’s Day to all — here’s hoping your personal relationships are showing more stability than the currently strained partnership between the federal government and the states.

This week, electoral and governance structures are in focus as federal lawmakers seek to consolidate power over election administration, while states aim to protect their systems from federal intervention, political parties, or voters themselves. Meanwhile, most state lawmakers are hitting the first month of the 2026 legislative session, tackling critical issues such as housing, AI regulation, and local ICE actions as the 2026 midterms approach.

A governance crisis is also unfolding in my home state of Hawaiʻi, touching on the very themes of campaign finance, institutional trust, and election structure that we track here. Gov. Josh Green canceled a trip to Washington, stating, “in light of recent events and to ensure steady leadership for our state during this time.” He remains in the state as Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke is facing scrutiny over her failure to disclose $10,000 in campaign donations amidst a separate and ongoing investigation into an unnamed legislator who reportedly accepted $35,000 in a paper bag. Hawaiʻi’s Attorney General continues the investigation, rejecting calls for an independent prosecutor.

Who Runs Elections? Federal Power Tests State Control

Questions of who truly governs elections reached a fever pitch this week as the U.S. House passed the SAVE Act. The bill, which faces a steep climb in the Senate, would mandate documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration and require states to conduct monthly voter roll purges.

Washington’s Moves

ALASKA: State officials signed a memorandum of understanding allowing the Department of Justice to identify individual voters for eventual removal from state rolls.
GEORGIA: An unsealed affidavit used to justify an FBI raid on Fulton County’s elections hub drew sharp rebukes from Democrats who called the claims baseless.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The FBI invited Secretary of State David Scanlan to a virtual “preparations” meeting for the midterms while the state remains in a legal fight over voter rolls.
OHIO: School officials and voting rights groups condemned a Department of Homeland Security visit to a Dayton high school to investigate a year-old voter fraud allegation.
NEBRASKA: The state Supreme Court denied an immediate injunction against handing voter data to federal officials, though it will hear the full case in March.

State Pushback & Compliance

ALASKA: State officials signed a memorandum of understanding allowing the Department of Justice to identify individual voters for eventual removal from state rolls.
MICHIGAN: A federal judge dismissed a Department of Justice attempt to force the state to hand over sensitive voter registration data including Social Security numbers.
MONTANA: Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen denied releasing confidential voter information to the federal government, despite requests for “all fields” of the state’s rolls.
ARIZONA: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Scottsdale to push the SAVE Act, but failed to provide specific examples of noncitizen voting during a press conference.
OHIO: House Speaker Matt Huffman categorically rejected President Trump’s calls to “nationalize” elections, insisting that the state should remain in charge of its own process.
NEBRASKA: Despite ongoing litigation, Secretary of State Bob Evnen fulfilled his pledge to hand over voter data, including partial Social Security numbers, to federal investigators.
NORTH DAKOTA: Officials say the SAVE Act would not affect the state because it is the only one in the nation without a voter registration system.

Elections in Motion

Even as some states begin early voting, others are still reshuffling their districts, debating who is eligible to cast a ballot, and finalizing the measures that will appear before voters this fall.

Who Can Vote

IOWA: A settlement was reached in a lawsuit over the state’s 2024 “potential noncitizens” list, ensuring the unreliable data won’t be used for future voter challenges.
UTAH: A bill to offer voter registration during hunting license purchases faced backlash after being amended to allow third-party contractors to review registration databases.
WASHINGTON: The House approved legislation making it tougher for private citizens to challenge a voter’s registration, requiring “personal knowledge” of the facts.

How Voting Works

ARIZONA: House Republicans passed a resolution that would end Election Day ballot drop-offs and require voters to provide government-issued ID with mail-in ballots.
MICHIGAN: Lawmakers are debating moving primary elections from August to May to give local clerks more time to certify results before the general election.
MAINE: The Legislature is asking the state’s highest court to issue an advisory opinion on whether expanding ranked-choice voting to gubernatorial and legislative races is constitutional.
WEST VIRGINIA: The House passed a bill requiring absentee ballots to be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, removing the current postmark-based deadline.
KANSAS: A new bill would require all legal challenges to election laws to be filed in Shawnee County, a move critics call partisan “forum shopping.”

Primaries Taking Shape

LOUISIANA: Candidates are filing for the state’s newly overhauled closed primary system, which replaces the long-standing “jungle primary” for most major offices.
NORTH CAROLINA: Early voting began this week for primary races that will decide key congressional matchups and a highly contested U.S. Senate seat.
RHODE ISLAND: Perennial candidate Allen Waters has launched a fifth campaign in seven years, this time running as an independent for Providence mayor.

Ballot Questions & Citizen Power

KANSAS: Voters will decide this summer whether to move to direct elections for state Supreme Court justices, potentially ending the state’s current merit-based commission system.
ARIZONA: Public education advocates filed a ballot measure to overhaul the state’s universal school voucher system by adding income caps and accountability requirements.
COLORADO: A new initiative seeks to establish a fundamental constitutional right to access public meetings and government records following recent legislative restrictions.
ARKANSAS: A judge blocked a 2023 law that increased the signature requirement for ballot measures from 15 counties to 50, ruling it unconstitutionally restricted direct democracy.
FLORIDA: A federal trial began over the state’s 2025 restrictions on ballot initiatives, including high fines for non-citizen petition circulators and shortened delivery timelines.
OHIO: Organizers are racing to collect 248,000 signatures to block a law that would change the state’s voter-approved recreational marijuana rules.
NEVADA: A biotech firm is pushing a constitutional amendment to allow Nevadans access to experimental medical treatments that have not received FDA approval.
SOUTH DAKOTA: The Senate approved a resolution to ask voters to legalize mobile sports betting, with 90% of the tax revenue dedicated to property tax relief.
NEW MEXICO: Advocates are rallying to put a measure on the ballot that would make New Mexico lawmakers the last in the nation to receive a salary.

ICE & Immigration Crackdowns

Border Czar Tom Homan announced the end of Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, claiming success despite widespread local opposition and the deaths of two American citizens. Gov. Tim Walz has proposed $10 million in relief for businesses affected by the surge, though he acknowledged it is only a small piece of the necessary recovery.

Detentions and Raids

IDAHO: Tribal nations are urging members to carry identification following reports of ICE agents detaining Native Americans after failing to distinguish them from immigrants.
TENNESSEE: ICE confirmed the purchase of a facility in Lebanon to serve as the state’s second immigrant detention center, catching local and state officials by surprise.
MICHIGAN: Federal records indicate one ICE facility is expanding and two more are being established in the state as part of a national detention model.
INDIANA: The state received its first $1.17 million payment from the federal government for housing immigration detainees at the Miami Correctional Facility.
NEVADA: Immigration arrests in the state have tripled compared to 2024, with roughly 40% of those detained having no prior criminal record.
NEW JERSEY: Gov. Mikie Sherrill launched a state website for residents to report “harmful conduct” by ICE agents and signed an order limiting enforcement on state-owned property.

Lawsuits & Court Rulings

NATIONAL: A federal appeals court ruled that a landmark 1996 law provides for “mandatory detention” without bond for many immigrants who entered the country illegally.
IOWA and NEBRASKA: Detainees in both states are suing the Department of Justice, alleging federal officials are ignoring court orders regarding mandatory detention and due process rights.
IDAHO: The ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that a horse track raid in Wilder used “aggressive force,” including zip-tying teenagers and pointing guns at compliant families.
INDIANA: A federal lawsuit alleges that administration officials coerced tech companies into removing apps and social media groups that tracked and recorded ICE activities.
MISSOURI: Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed a lawsuit seeking to force a “redo” of the 2020 Census to exclude non-citizens from apportionment counts.

Legislatures Join the Fight

WASHINGTON: The Senate passed the SAFE Act, which requires federal agents to obtain a judicial warrant before entering nonpublic areas of schools and hospitals.
TENNESSEE: A bill creating a state crime for defying a federal deportation order advanced, alongside legislation to require local agencies to honor federal immigration detainers.
FLORIDA: A wide-ranging bill cleared its first committee, seeking to ban non-citizens from sending money overseas and mandating all licensing tests be in English.
INDIANA: House Republicans approved a bill mandating local police and university cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, brushing aside civil rights concerns.
NEW MEXICO: Lawmakers are weighing the economic impact of the Immigrant Safety Act, which prohibits state and local governments from entering into ICE detention contracts.
WEST VIRGINIA: The Senate passed a bill requiring law enforcement to notify ICE whenever they identify an individual who is in the country illegally.

What Else Legislators Are Racing to Regulate

Apart from the immediate heat of immigration and election battles, state legislatures are also dealing with how to regulate the rapid growth of AI, protecting youth on social media, and managing the massive infrastructure needs of new data centers and affordable housing.

AI in Health and Everyday Life

ALABAMA: A Senate committee approved a bill requiring a human professional to make the final decision when AI is used to deny health care coverage.
ARIZONA: Lawmakers are advancing several bills to protect minors from AI chatbots and ensure conversations with AI “professionals” are treated as privileged in court.
KANSAS: A legislative proposal seeks to prohibit AI platforms from developing “emotional relationships” with users or encouraging harmful acts like suicide or murder.

Social Media & Youth Protections

INDIANA: A House committee is considering a new model for social media regulation focused on parental consent and curbs on “addictive algorithms” for minors.
SOUTH CAROLINA: NetChoice sued the state to block the Age-Appropriate Code Design Act, claiming the law’s speech restrictions and data collection bans are unconstitutional.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The House advanced a bill to prohibit social media apps from selling the location data of underage users, despite Democratic protests of an “inadequate” hearing process.

Data Centers & the Grid

COLORADO: Environmental groups are backing legislation to require large data centers to use 100% renewable energy by 2031, countering an industry-backed bill offering tax breaks.
NEW JERSEY: Committees in both chambers approved a bill requiring data centers to pay for at least 85% of the infrastructure upgrades needed to deliver their power.
VIRGINIA: A new proposal would shift distribution costs from residential customers to data centers, potentially dropping home electric bills by over five dollars per month.
WASHINGTON: Lawmakers are advancing a bill to ensure new data centers cover the full cost of grid upgrades, though they recently removed a proposed per-kilowatt fee.
WISCONSIN: Democratic legislators proposed a moratorium on data center construction until a state planning authority is established and 100% renewable energy requirements are met.

Housing & Homelessness

PENNSYLVANIA: Gov. Josh Shapiro introduced a 10-year roadmap to build 450,000 new units by 2035 and reduce barriers to homeownership for minority residents.
NEW MEXICO: The Senate Finance Committee approved sales tax deductions for construction materials used in multi-family housing complexes where 80% of units are affordable.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Bipartisan legislation advanced that would remove eviction records from public access after five years to help residents find stable housing.
UTAH: A Salt Lake City tiny-home village added its first Boxabl unit, part of a holistic “whole person” approach to rehabilitating chronic homelessness.

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