Dallas County Republicans' plan to hand-count primary ballots moves forward

Dallas County Republicans say they’re planning to go ahead with hand-counting tens of thousands of Election Day ballots cast in the upcoming March 3 primary after raising more than $400,000 towards the effort.

The county GOP party also said more than 1,000 people have signed up to count the ballots in an effort that would make the county the largest jurisdiction in the country to hand-count results on Election Day. Other large jurisdictions in the country have hand-counted ballots, but they’ve done so after an election and to verify the accuracy of machine counts, including as part of an audit.

“Not only are the eyes of Texas upon us, but the eyes of America,” said Dallas County Republican Party Chairman Allen West, a former congressman, in a social media statement Friday. West said the effort is meant to “restore confidence in our electoral process.”

That decision means all Dallas County voters will have to cast ballots at their assigned precinct rather than at countywide vote centers on Election Day. By law, if one party wants to use precinct-based voting, then the other must do the same. And by law, any hand-count of ballots has to be done at each of the county’s polling locations. During the 12-day early voting period, voters will still be able to cast ballots anywhere in the county.



https://www.votebeat.org/texas/2025/12/09/dallas-county-gop-hand-countmarch-2026-primary-allen-west/

Wisconsin clerks hope new law can alleviate statewide election official shortage

Wisconsin clerks say two decisions on legislation this week — a new law expanding towns’ ability to hire clerks and a veto that blocks broader standing to sue election officials — will help ease mounting pressure on local election offices, which have faced record turnover and increasing legal threats.

The new law allows small towns to more easily hire clerks that live outside of municipal limits, a change clerks say is urgently needed as finding small-town clerks has become harder in recent years amid increased scrutiny, new laws and ever-evolving rules. As the new law moved through the Legislature, some small towns ran elections with no clerks at all.

“There are lots of townships that will benefit from this,” said Marathon County Clerk Kim Trueblood, a Republican. “It’s going to help tremendously.”

In the past, towns with fewer than 2,500 residents had to hold a referendum to authorize appointing clerks instead of electing them. That took time and the election requirement restricted who could serve, since elected clerks — unlike appointed clerks — must live within municipal boundaries.



https://www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/2025/12/09/clerk-shortage-addressed-under-new-law-tony-evers/

Map mix-up sends Missouri Republican spiraling into George Soros rant

Last Friday, U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) went on an anti-California rant on X, while unknowingly responding to a post from a newspaper in her own state.

In a since-deleted X post, Wagner responded to content from the account “California Democrat,” which is a newspaper that covers the town of California, Mo.. California Democrat was reporting about concerned citizens against Missouri’s gerrymandering scheme gathering in the California City Hall railroad park.

Wagner took the opportunity to bash the state of California and say that the real threat isn’t the GOP’s biased Missouri map, “but the [George] Soros-funded network trying to manufacture outrage.” Wagner did not realize that the California Democrat was discussing events in California, Mo., and not the state of California.

Although the post has been deleted, Huffington Post reporter Jen Bendery screenshotted and published Wagner’s rant on Bluesky.




https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/12/08/map-mix-up-sends-missouri-republican-spiraling-into-george-soros-rant/

Public launch of updated Oklahoma campaign finance system still delayed

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahomans still lack a date for when public access to the state’s system that tracks election, lobbying and campaign finance will be restored, nearly three months after it was taken offline for updates.

While the public can request data through the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, the Guardian system’s online component, which provides a quick way to examine information about campaign spending, lobbyists and candidates, remains inaccessible. The system was first taken offline Sept. 19 and a beta version was launched with limited access for filers, but not the public, in late October.

The delay is also affecting new lobbyist registration and candidate filings as the 2026 statewide election season begins to intensify and the Legislature prepares for session in February.

Lee Anne Bruce Boone, executive director of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, said Guardian 2.0 is in the “final phase of transition” and the Ethics Commission is validating data delivered by the vendor.


https://oklahomavoice.com/briefs/public-launch-of-updated-oklahoma-campaign-finance-system-still-delayed/

IL-SEN: Top Democrat in a contested Senate race is caught up in a 'problematic' fundraising email blunder

Last week, a member of Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s staff called Rep. Ted Lieu’s team with a question: Couldn't the congressman have given her a heads up before issuing an endorsement in her state’s open, hotly contested Democratic Senate primary?

Lieu’s staff was puzzled. The California congressman, who, like Duckworth, is one of the most prominent Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) lawmakers on Capitol Hill, hadn’t weighed in on the Senate race in Duckworth’s state of Illinois.

That’s when Lieu's team learned that Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s campaign for Senate had implied otherwise, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation.

In fact, for months, the Krishnamoorthi campaign had been sending fundraising emails purporting to be written by Lieu, according to a review of nearly a dozen of those emails.



https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/top-democrat-contested-senate-race-caught-problematic-fundraising-emai-rcna248218?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Click%20here&utm_campaign=NBC%20NEWS%20EXCLUSIVE%3A%20Top%20Democrat%20in%20a%20contested%20Senate%20race%20caught%20up%20in%20%27problematic%27%20fundraising%20email%20blunder

Missouri Democrats' effort to block GOP gerrymander picks up steam

Democrats in Missouri looking to block the state’s new congressional districts hit a key deadline on Tuesday, organizers say, getting a step closer to freezing the map drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature to create an additional GOP-leaning district in the 2026 midterms.

People Not Politicians, the committee organizing to block the new map, said it submitted over 305,000 signatures to Missouri’s Secretary of State Denny Hoskins on Tuesday, more than double the 107,000 valid signatures needed to trigger a referendum process that could put the map in front of voters next year.

Hoskins’ office will now process the signatures and distribute them to local elections offices for verification.

The petition puts into jeopardy Missouri Republicans’ attempt to eliminate the Democratic-leaning Kansas City district currently held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver — part of a larger push by President Donald Trump to tilt the odds in his favor of retaining control of the House in next year’s midterms.


https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/09/missouri-gerrymandering-midterm-elections-00683693

NY-10: Brad Lander set to challenge Rep. Dan Goldman from the left

NEW YORK — Brooklyn progressive Brad Lander is planning to launch his bid for Congress as soon as Wednesday, challenging Rep. Dan Goldman from the political left in a district that went big for Zohran Mamdani, three people familiar with his preparations told POLITICO.

The city comptroller is expected to open his campaign with a pivotal endorsement from Mamdani, the democratic socialist mayor-elect’s first formal nod since his November election win upended the Democratic landscape. Lander has also sought support from progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, according to two people close to Lander.

Lander shot his campaign launch video, with some scenes from his Park Slope community, two people with knowledge of his operations said. And he is interviewing for the Working Families Party endorsement, four more people confirmed to POLITICO. The people looped into Lander’s plans were granted anonymity to protect a sensitive rollout process.

Lander’s entry will mark New York progressives’ boldest salvo yet in primaries to unseat more mainstream party members on the heels of Mamdani’s ascension to the helm of the country’s largest city. The fiscal wonk and Israel critic is a favorite of left-leaning voters in the liberal congressional district, which encompasses lower Manhattan and northwest Brooklyn and overlaps Lander’s former City Council district.


https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/09/brad-lander-set-to-challenge-rep-dan-goldman-from-the-left-00682619?nid=0000018f-3124-de07-a98f-3be4d1400000&nname=politico-toplines&nrid=45c4c9c5-10cc-4e21-97f7-4328997c8bdd

TX-28: Cook Political Report moves race from 'Toss Up' to 'Lean D'.

Federal lawsuit claims SC absentee ballot law makes voting harder for people with disabilities

COLUMBIA — A South Carolina law meant to prevent election fraud makes it harder for people with disabilities to vote, civil rights groups claimed in a federal lawsuit.

Under a 2022 law, anyone can vote early with no excuse necessary or request an absentee ballot to vote by mail. To prevent the possibility of fraud, legislators added a limit of five ballots that any one person could request or submit for someone else.

In nursing homes and residential care settings, where residents often rely on a single staff member to help them vote, that makes voting difficult, attorneys for the state American Civil Liberties Union argued in a lawsuit filed in federal court Friday.

Three nursing home residents sued alongside the state NAACP, contending the law violates the federal Voting Rights Act.


https://scdailygazette.com/2025/12/08/federal-lawsuit-claims-sc-absentee-ballot-law-makes-voting-harder-for-people-with-disabilities/

Georgia lawmaker (D) charged with unemployment fraud

A Georgia state representative is accused of fraudulently collecting $17,811 in unemployment benefits after allegedly applying for a federal program meant to support people who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.

Rep. Sharon Henderson, a Covington Democrat whose district spans a western portion of Newton County, was charged with two counts of theft of government funds and 10 counts of making false statements.

Henderson was scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Justin Anand on Monday afternoon. She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The program, which was established by Congress in 2020, provided cash assistance to those experiencing unemployment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants were required to submit weekly certifications providing the reason they were unemployed and stating that they were actively looking for work.



https://georgiarecorder.com/briefs/georgia-lawmaker-charged-with-unemployment-fraud/