It’s time for your Democracy in the States’ Weekly Roundup (a little delayed by Tropical Storm Lala).
Pennsylvania Democrats are pushing a bill to stop corporations from spending in state elections. At the same time, states from Florida to Texas to Alaska to California are debating who gets to vote in primaries and who runs the offices that count the votes. All this is happening as federal courts keep blocking the Justice Department’s push for voter data, and the administration asks the Supreme Court to act quickly on vote-by-mail limits before the midterms.
We’re covering these developments and more state-level changes to primaries, campaign finance, election rules, redistricting, immigration enforcement, and surveillance below.
Reformers Take On Closed Primaries and Dark Money
Florida is one of only 10 states with fully closed primaries, and reform advocates there are trying to open things up this week. In Pennsylvania and Michigan, the focus is on getting corporate money out of elections. Texas, Alaska, and California are all debating who gets to vote in primaries and who runs them. Here’s a quick look at where things stand:
PENNSYLVANIA: Pa. House Democrats introduce measure to bar corporations from political contributions (Penn Capital-Star).
Rep. Joe Webster’s HB2728 would rewrite Pennsylvania’s corporate charter law so companies have no legal power to spend on elections or ballot questions. Violators would risk losing their charter and facing an attorney general lawsuit. Webster points to the $4 billion in outside spending in the 2024 federal elections as the problem he’s targeting. Hawaii passed similar legislation in May, and Webster says Montana and Minnesota are pursuing comparable bills, though he doesn’t expect this one to reach Gov. Shapiro’s desk until 2027.
FLORIDA: As voters cast ballots, advocates push to open the state’s closed primary system (Florida Phoenix).
Roughly 4 million Florida voters have no party affiliation, 28% of the electorate, and all of them are locked out of the governor and Senate primaries. Advocacy group Open Primaries is now hunting for a legislative sponsor while weighing a lawsuit. Even Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried is watching the trend. “Every single day, more and more people are registering as independents,” she said. “I think a real conversation needs to happen within our party.”
TEXAS: New secretary of state will continue to defend Texas’ open primaries against GOP lawsuit (VoteBeat).
Robert Howden, the new secretary of state and a former legislative director for Gov. Greg Abbott, is breaking with his old boss. He’s committing to keep defending the state’s open primary system against a Texas GOP lawsuit that wants to require party registration before voting. “This issue can and will be resolved by the Legislature in the coming months,” Howden said in his court filing.
MICHIGAN: A ballot fight over corporate money in Michigan politics is coming to voters (Michigan Advance).
The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics ballot measure certified its signatures in July and is now headed for the November ballot. It would bar companies with large state contracts and regulated utilities from political spending and would tighten disclosure rules. Backers say the proposal would affect more than 900 companies, including PACs tied to Blue Cross Blue Shield and DTE Energy, and that 8 in 10 Michiganders support it in early polling.
ALASKA: Elon Musk is Trying to Kill Alaskan Voting Rights (Independent Voter News).
Musk doesn’t live in or vote in Alaska, but he has routed $1.5 million through a Wisconsin PAC to back a November ballot measure repealing the state’s top-four all-party primary and ranked-choice system. As one attorney pointed out, the only reason the public knows about his spending at all is Alaska’s own dark-money disclosure law.
CALIFORNIA: California Amendment Introduced to Take Party Politics Out of the Office That Runs Elections (Independent Voter News).
Two Republican assemblymembers introduced ACA 23, which would make California’s secretary of state a nonpartisan office like the state’s judicial and school posts. As the outlet put it, the present setup is like “letting the players of a baseball team officiate the rules of their games.” The amendment faces long odds, needing two-thirds votes in both chambers before voters could weigh in.
Wisconsin’s Primary Delivers Zombie Votes and a Milwaukee Miscount
Wisconsin held its primary this week, and the numbers told a strange story: tens of thousands of so-called “zombie votes,” ballots cast for candidates who had already dropped out, muddied early returns, and a separate tabulation error delayed Milwaukee’s count entirely. Turnout was the more encouraging headline: Minnesota set a record, and Alaska’s new top-four primary system is already reshaping who makes the November ballot. Florida voters are heading to the polls Tuesday, with advance voting already underway, and New Hampshire has new ID rules in place ahead of its own primary next month.
WISCONSIN: 68,000 ‘Zombie Votes’ Haunted Wisconsin’s Democratic Primary (Independent Voter News).
WISCONSIN: An election night error overshadowed Milwaukee’s improvements at processing absentee ballots (VoteBeat).
FLORIDA: Nearly 1.5 million Floridians have voted in advance of Tuesday’s primary elections (Florida Phoenix).
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Absentee ballots for state primary now available; here’s what to know about new ID rules (New Hampshire Bulletin).
ALASKA: After Alaska’s ‘final four’ primary, a silent primary may decide who’s on the ballot in November (Alaska Beacon).
MINNESOTA: Minnesota primary breaks turnout record with over 1.1 million ballots cast (Minnesota Reformer).
Missouri’s Redistricting Fight Becomes a Stress Test, and Mississippi Tries Again
Missouri’s redistricting fight is putting the state supreme court’s power to enforce its own rulings to the test. Mississippi is trying again with a map that courts have already flagged as a racial gerrymander. Alabama is moving in the other direction: after the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, the state brought back its original 2023 map, which courts had called discriminatory, replacing the court-ordered map that helped elect a Democrat in 2024.
MISSOURI: Missouri’s redistricting mess is a stress test for the rule of law (Missouri Independent).
MISSOURI: Judge sets trial date for Missouri redistricting referendum, initiative petition amendment (Missouri Independent).
MISSISSIPPI: After Supreme Court gutted VRA, Mississippi tries to bring back a GOP gerrymander (Democracy Docket).
MISSISSIPPI: Federal judge blocks GOP effort to get rid of Black judicial seat in Mississippi (Democracy Docket).
TEXAS: Texas Supreme Court refuses to stop GOP-led county from changing voting maps between primary and November election (Democracy Docket).
ALABAMA: Alabama 2nd Congressional District race could have national implications (Alabama Reflector).
Voting, Elections & The Courts
Federal courts kept blocking the Trump administration’s push for supposedly ineligible voters this week. Nevada became the DOJ’s 22nd straight loss, even as the administration asks the Supreme Court to move quickly on vote-by-mail limits before the midterms. Courts also pushed back on federal power in other areas, from homelessness policy to birthright citizenship.
NEVADA: Trump DOJ goes 0 for 22 as Nevada court rejects voter roll demand (Democracy Docket).
MICHIGAN: Trump DOJ fails to convince full Sixth Circuit to resurrect Michigan voter roll loss (Democracy Docket).
ALASKA: Alaska’s list of alleged noncitizen voters includes more Republicans than Democrats (Alaska Beacon).
NATIONAL: Federal judge blocks Trump’s efforts to restrict mail-in voting nationwide (VoteBeat).
NATIONAL: Trump administration urges Supreme Court to rule soon on limiting vote-by-mail in midterms (Alabama Reflector).
TEXAS: Texas’ mail ballot ID requirements restored by federal appeals court (VoteBeat).
SOUTH DAKOTA: Federal appeals court protects longer petitioning time for South Dakota ballot questions (South Dakota Searchlight).
MAINE, MARYLAND, and RHODE ISLAND: Federal judge tosses Trump’s latest attempt to reconfigure federal homelessness programs (Maine Morning Star / Maryland Matters / Rhode Island Current).
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Legal groups ask NH court to restore block on Trump order on birthright citizenship (Maine Morning Star).
ICE Expands, and Accountability Catches Up
Private prison companies are still profiting from the immigration enforcement surge, and Kentucky’s new electric shock glove contract shows just how far things have gone. But there was pushback this week too: a court-ordered release in Montana, ACLU data showing a spike in Kentucky detainer requests, advocates tracking detention conditions in Memphis, and states moving hundreds of bills to push back against federal enforcement.
TENNESSEE: At CoreCivic, immigration crackdowns are good for business (Daily Montanan).
KENTUCKY: ICE to outfit agents with electric shock gloves from KY company in $20 million no-bid contract (Kentucky Lantern).
KENTUCKY: ACLU-KY: Data shows 300% increase in ICE detainer requests after Louisville policy change (Kentucky Lantern).
MICHIGAN: DHS account, court records raise questions about DNR role in ICE arrest (Michigan Advance).
TENNESSEE: ‘The Bird-Watchers’ of Memphis: tracking ICE flights and documenting detainees in shackles (Arkansas Advocate).
COLORADO: Health of Colorado priest in ICE custody deteriorating after almost a year in detention (Colorado Newsline).
NATIONAL: Democrats push nearly 250 state bills opposing federal immigration efforts (Maine Morning Star).
MONTANA: Federal judge orders release of unlawfully detained Yellowstone County man (Daily Montanan).
FLORIDA: FIU students file federal lawsuit over ICE protest clampdown (Florida Phoenix).
States Push Back on Surveillance
Flock Safety’s license-plate reader network is under the microscope as state lawmakers worry about mission creep, from immigration enforcement to stalking. States are responding with new safeguards and tougher questions for the company. In Kentucky, the Supreme Court reminded everyone that the Fourth Amendment still applies.
PENNSYLVANIA: Flock Safety tightens safeguards as states, cities question surveillance network (Alabama Reflector).
WEST VIRGINIA: ‘Not too reassured’: WV lawmakers unimpressed by Flock rep’s answers to privacy concerns, more (West Virginia Watch).
NATIONAL: Flock is just the latest example of using surveillance to stalk women (North Carolina Newsline).
IDAHO: Immigration searches were conducted on Twin Falls Flock network. A month later, agreements changed. (Idaho Capital Sun).
SOUTH DAKOTA: Attorney general of South Dakota plans to introduce ‘safeguards’ for license plate readers (South Dakota Searchlight).
KENTUCKY: The Supreme Court has a message for Kentucky on surveillance: Get a warrant (Kentucky Lantern).
NEW JERSEY: NJ Supreme Court opinion on privacy law seen as win for data brokers (New Jersey Monitor).
The Data Center Fight Reaches the Ballot
Data centers are now a real election issue. Every Ohio governor candidate supports new restrictions, and one Ohio city just got the green light to put a project to voters. States from Kentucky to New Mexico are testing moratoriums as a stopgap while legislatures catch up.
KENTUCKY: The data center fight in Kentucky is about democracy (Kentucky Lantern).
KENTUCKY: A county’s data center moratorium doesn’t include a small city considering huge project (Kentucky Lantern).
OHIO: All candidates for Ohio governor have now called for restrictions on data center boom (Ohio Capital Journal).
OHIO: Ohio Supreme Court allows Ashville referendum against data center project to move forward (Ohio Capital Journal).
COLORADO: Local governments in Colorado enact moratoriums on data center development (Colorado Newsline).
NEW MEXICO: New Mexico Democratic lawmakers discuss possibilities for proposed statewide data center moratorium (Source New Mexico).
Executive Power and Federalism
The federal government’s reach continued extending this week. A top DOJ official got involved in a GOP primary. The administration kept pressuring states on in-state tuition for immigrants, and in Alabama, a civil society watchdog group faced criminal charges a judge refused to dismiss.
NEW YORK: Attorney General Blanche appears to endorse GOP candidate in latest politicization of DOJ (Democracy Docket).
NEW YORK, CONNECTICUT, and VERMONT: DOJ targets 3 more states in effort to axe in-state tuition for immigrants (Alabama Reflector).
CONNECTICUT: Trump administration sues CT over in-state tuition for undocumented students (Rhode Island Current).
NATIONAL: Governors and lawmakers say they’re getting serious about states’ rights (Kansas Reflector).
ALABAMA: Federal judge denies Southern Poverty Law Center’s motion to dismiss criminal charges (Alabama Reflector).
In case you missed it…
Ezra Klein & Danielle Allen on Liberalism and the 21st Century, August 13, 2026
Renovating America’s Universities, by Danielle Allen, August 11, 2026
August 10 Tech and Democracy Roundup: KOSA’s Big Week, and America’s Two Playbooks for Protecting Kids Online., by Zachey Kliger, August 10, 2026
As America Turns 250, We’re Forgetting the Declaration’s Most Fundamental Right, by J. H. Snider, August 8, 2026