Newsletter: Georgia Election Board Walks Back Illegal Rules

This week — following a lawsuit from American Oversight — the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) withdrew rules it approved in a recent illegal meeting that was held without proper notice or a quorum. 

We sued the board for violating the state’s Open Meetings Act. During the last-minute meeting on July 12, three board members considered two new rules, which — as reporting later revealed — had been suggested by the state Republican Party. 

• One of the rules aimed to increase the number of partisan poll monitors observing ballot counting at Georgia tabulation centers.
• On Tuesday, the board voted to withdraw the illegally promulgated rules, but agreed to reconsider them at its next properly noticed meeting, scheduled for next Tuesday.

“We’re pleased that our lawsuit, along with pressure from partner organizations on the ground in Georgia, has prompted the Board to withdraw the illegally approved rules from its sham July 12 meeting,” American Oversight’s interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said.

• “We will continue to closely monitor the Board to ensure it does not engage in additional unlawful actions while behind closed doors and unaccountable to the people of Georgia,” she added.
• Still, the board’s decision to promptly revisit the problematic measures, which serve to intimidate election workers and grant partisan advantage to preferred candidates, remains deeply concerning.

On the Records

DOJ Watchdog Criticizes Agency Response to 2020 Racial Justice Protests
This week, the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General released a review of the department’s response to the 2020 racial justice protests in Washington, D.C. 

• The report was critical of DOJ decision-making that required law enforcement to perform missions without proper training or equipment, and questioned the deployment of government agents whose uniforms did not indicate their agencies or identities. 

Records we previously obtained show that on June 5, 2020, following days of protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd, the Secret Service sought reinforcements from Customs and Border Protection, including a helicopter capable of delivering a “quick reaction force.” 

• We also previously obtained a message sent to employees by then-acting head of ICE Matthew Albence on June 2 that included advice to “[r]emove ICE identifying badges or clothing” such as hats, jackets, and lanyards while in public. “Anything that identifies you as an ICE employee can make you a target,” the note warned. 

Excessive Heat in Texas Prisons
This week, a multi-day hearing began in a Texas lawsuit seeking to force the state to fully air condition its state prisons. More than 130,000 people are incarcerated in Texas state prisons, but only about a third of the state’s 100 prisons units have full AC.

In May — shortly after several advocacy organizations joined the lawsuit, arguing that the extreme heat in Texas prisons amounts to cruel and unusual punishment — NPR’s “All Things Considered” reported on records we obtained showing that between May and October of last year, people incarcerated in Texas state prisons submitted more than 4,200 individual complaints related to high temperatures. 

• The most common grievance types, as categorized by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, include issues with or a lack of a personal fan, lack of cold water or ice, and “excessive heat.”
• We also obtained orientation videos for staff and incarcerated people that outline heat mitigation strategies. Several interventions suggested require purchases from the prison commissary. Incarcerated people in Texas are not paid for their labor. 

Other Stories We’re Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy

• A half-million records and one app: The group behind a massive effort to ‘clean’ voter rolls (CNN)
• These swing state election officials are pro-Trump election deniers (Rolling Stone)
• Across Arizona, Republican officials who defended election system lose primaries (Votebeat)
• He kept investigating the 2020 election. Now this Michigan sheriff faces voters himself. (Bolts)
• Kansas stops enforcing a law against impersonating election officials (Associated Press)
• How 9 mistakenly discarded ballots in Luzerne County, Pa., fueled Trump’s 2020 lies about elections (Votebeat)
• Conservative group has challenged 17,000 names on voter rolls in Denton County, Texas (Denton Record-Chronicle)
• Election deniers are ramping up efforts to disenfranchise voters (Wired)

Voting Rights

• Arizonans left off voter rolls just before primary because of problems with their forms, analysis shows (Votebeat)
• Court reverses its ruling on proof of citizenship for Arizona voter registration (Arizona Republic)
• Amid new ballot drop boxes limits, Florida’s shorter hours cause voting rights worry (USA Today)
• Alabama Secretary of State accuses League of Women Voters of ‘data mining’ (News from the States)
• Michigan faces a shortage of local clerk candidates, raising alarms about how elections will be run (Michigan Advance)

In the States

• Mayor Whitmire’s proposal to ban some protests near homes raises questions over constitutionality (Houston Chronicle)
• Discrimination lawsuit against Atlanta VC firm has far-reaching impacts (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Los Angeles says it will not join Newsom’s push to clear encampments (New York Times)
• For inmates, little escape from brutal heat in prisons without air conditioning (Washington Post)
• Wisconsin incarcerates more people than its prisons were designed to hold (Wisconsin Watch)
• New Louisiana law serves as a warning to bystanders who film police: Stay away or face arrest (Verite News)

National News

• Project 2025 shakes up leadership after criticism from Democrats and Trump, but says work goes on (Associated Press)
• This company promised to improve health care in jails. Dozens of its patients have died. (Marshall Project)

LGBTQ Rights

• Judge says Missouri lawmaker immune from subpoena in challenge of transgender care ban (Missouri Independent)
• Federal protections of transgender students are in effect where courts haven’t blocked them (Associated Press)

Abortion and Reproductive Rights

• Iowa’s 6-week abortion ban takes effect (New York Times)
• States break out new tactics to thwart abortion ballot measures (Politico)
• Woman sues Kansas hospital over alleged denial of emergency abortion (ABC News)
• Exclusive: Inside the Supreme Court’s negotiations and compromise on Idaho’s abortion ban (CNN)
• Texas sues Biden administration to limit teenage access to birth control (Guardian)
• GOP wanted to use ‘unborn human being’ to describe AZ’s abortion measure. A judge rejected it (Arizona Republic)
• Judge strikes down a North Carolina abortion restriction but upholds another (Associated Press)
• Abortion care remains available in Utah after state Supreme Court ruling — for now (Salt Lake Tribune)

Threats to Education

• Ryan Walters calls for study into impact of illegal immigration on Oklahoma schools (Oklahoman)
• Walters threatens ‘rogue’ school districts that don’t embrace Bible mandate (Oklahoman)
• University of Missouri bows to Republican pressure and eliminates campus DEI division (Missouri Independent)
• Georgia schools chief says African American studies decision rooted in ‘divisive concepts’ law (Georgia Recorder)
• Jerry Falwell Jr. and Liberty University reach settlement (Washington Post)

Government Transparency and Public Records Law

• What should Virginia’s FOIA council prioritize? Depends who you ask. (Virginia Mercury)
• Pennsylvania court says images of absentee, mail-in ballots are public records (Democracy Docket)

Immigration

• Texas’ floating Rio Grande barrier can stay for now, court rules as larger legal battle persists (Associated Press)
• In an Arizona border county, rifts over how much to help the feds patrol the border (Bolts)
• The right-wing dream of ‘self-deportation’ (New York Times)

Trump Accountability

• $10M cash withdrawal drove secret probe into whether Trump took money from Egypt (Washington Post)
• Donald Trump says again he would ‘absolutely’ pardon Jan. 6 rioters (NBC News)