Ari Berman
@ariberman
National voting rights correspondent Mother Jones. Author of Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It and Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America
61 years ago LBJ signed Voting Rights Act. He called it "a triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield." But now the Supreme Court has effectively killed it after John Roberts spent 40 years working to destroy the country’s most important civil rights law
Trump claimed in speech DHS found 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote. Turns out that number was 10,716 based on report they just released. Even that # likely wildly inflated due to false positives & inaccuracies in SAVE database
National Intelligence Council 2021 report directly contradicts Trump's lies about alleged Chinese interference: “We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US presidential election"
Dems could draw more than 20 new blue districts by 2028, reversing GOP’s redistricting advantage They need to maximize their power everywhere they have it to counteract Trump & SCOTUS destroying VRA I break it down here, citing great research by @stephenwolf.bsky.social @davidnir.com
WTF is this NYT headline? What the Alabama + Callais decisions really signal is that Roberts Court will make up whatever the hell rule it wants to maximally help the GOP & prevent Black voters from having any representation
In addition to fighting back against GOP gerrymandering, here’s another reason why state-level races so important in 2026: if Dems win trifectas in combo of MI, PA, WI, NV & AZ they can put National Popular Vote Interstate Compact over 270 electoral votes & elect next president with popular vote
There’s one person squarely to blame for the destruction of the Voting Rights Act and American democracy writ large: Chief Justice John Roberts
John Roberts has been trying to kill Voting Rights Act since he was young lawyer in Reagan DOJ in early 1980s. That's most important context for today's Callais decision. Roberts Court has now issued 3 major decisions gutting VRA, turning law into dead letter www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Trump claims Save America Act will “guarantee the midterms” for Republicans. It won’t. 10 states with lowest rates of passport ownership all voted for Trump www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Affidavit for Fulton County FBI raid is out & begins with massive red flag, noting that "criminal investigation originated from referral sent by Kurt Olsen, [Trump's] Director of Election Security & Integrity" Olsen was leader of 'Stop the Steal' in 2020 storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
The dark money group Heritage Action says Trump threatened to strip all federal funding from Indiana if state senate rejects 9-0 gerrymandered map today. This is height of autocracy. Trump & his allies using political and economic terrorism to force state legislature to vote for rigged map
Mike Johnson’s 7 week refusal to seat Adelita Grijalva bigger than just Epstein files (though that’s BFD). He’s also laying groundwork to attempt to prevent winning Dems from taking office if House majority up for grabs in 2026, as I reported for @motherjones.com www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Huge protests at Missouri Capitol right now against GOP plan to gerrymander state on Trump's orders AND gerrymander citizen-led ballot initiatives
Really important convo with @wajali.bsky.social on 10 ways Trump already rigging midterms Democracy being destroyed right before our eyes & Dems need much more urgent response to combat this authoritarian takeover thelefthook.substack.com/p/the-10-way...
Look what Texas Republicans did to Dem Rep. Julie Johnson's district to shift it from Harris +24 to Trump +18. She used to represent north and east of Dallas. Now her district stretches 100 miles east into rural Texas under Trump's gerrymander. Absurd
Massive #NoKings protest in Kingston, NY, home of swing 18th congressional district. Sheriff said 5,000 attended! City has 24k people total Video by @thomasbrodin.bsky.social
NY State Sen Michelle Hinchey gave powerful speech at No Kings protest in New Paltz today. “When we are watching the very fabric of our country unravel, this is the moment in history where we will look back on and say where were you when? Where were you when we were watching dictators take over?"
Breaking: federal district court orders North Carolina to certify state supreme court election for Democrat Allison Riggs & rejects Republican attempt to overturn election and throw out thousands of votes. Huge victory for democracy & fair elections www.courtlistener.com/docket/69489...
In addition to requiring proof of citizenship documents to register to vote that millions of Americans don’t have, SAVE Act requires voters to register or re-register IN PERSON at election offices. That's absolutely crazy. Some voters might have to drive 8 hours just to update their registration
Greta Bedekovics @americanprogress.bsky.social says SAVE Act would disenfranchise 69 million married women who changed name & can’t use birth certificate to register to vote calling it “a marriage penalty” that “completely ignores the implications of the 19th Amendment”
10 Wisconsin counties flipped from Trump to Susan Crawford last night www.jsonline.com/story/news/p...
This image is making the rounds among Wisconsin Dems & progressives this am
Said by the billionaire who spent $25 million trying to buy a state supreme court race & gave three million dollar checks directly to voters
@benwikler.bsky.social: "Tonight, Democrats got up off the mat and fought back...Let the lesson of Wisconsin’s election ring out across the country: hope is not lost, democracy can yet survive, and the voice of the American people will not be silenced.”
Seven polling sites in Milwaukee ran out of ballots due to "historic turnout" according to city election director. More ballots are being printed and on way. Very important to remind voters that if they're in line when polls close at 8 CT they get to vote. Do not leave. Please spread the word