The Integrity Desk

Election 2026

21 stories on file

Everything being done to protect the sanctity of your vote, whether or not you asked to be protected.

Two overlapping blank precinct maps lie beside a court stamp on a county clerk’s table.

Lone Star StateSep 11, 2026Commentary

Texas Supreme Court Returns Galveston Voters To Their March Map

County officials redrew precincts after the primary, but the court ruled that the primary and general election use one consistent set of lines.

Stacks of blank television advertising orders cover a media-buying desk beneath a Texas-shaped wall shadow.

Lone Star StateSep 11, 2026Commentary

Senate Republicans Bring $32 Million To The Texas Race They Left Alone

A leadership-aligned super PAC entered the Paxton campaign after sitting out the summer, joining Trump- and Musk-backed groups already spending in Texas.

Sealed election record boxes sit beneath an unused evidence tag in a government archive room.

Election 2026Sep 10, 2026Commentary

Justice Department Preserves The 2024 Election For Further Inspection

Letters to 29 states and the District of Columbia ordered litigation holds on records that election officials say federal law already requires them to retain.

An empty television interview set faces a dark broadcast camera beside a closed laptop.

Lone Star StateSep 10, 2026Commentary

The FCC Moves A Texas Senate Interview To YouTube

Jimmy Kimmel withheld his James Talarico interview from television after saying federal equal-time guidance put ABC affiliates at risk.

Plain ballot envelopes move through an empty postal sorting station beside an inactive barcode scanner.

Election 2026Sep 10, 2026Commentary

Appeals Court Leaves Mail Ballots In The Mail

A three-judge panel kept a block on federal rules that required states to preclear envelopes and upload voter lists to a portal not yet operating.

Blank government checks and an unmarked ballot envelope rest on a convention table beneath red and blue stage lights.

Election 2026Sep 10, 2026Commentary

Every Adult Gets $5,000 After Republicans Win, Congress Approves It And The Money Appears

The president attached a trillion-dollar dividend to the midterm result without legislation, a funding plan or authority to issue it himself.

An empty television studio holds a blank campaign podium beyond stacks of sealed advertising packets and a broadcast control desk.

Election 2026Sep 5, 2026Commentary

Campaign Committees Win Affordable Television Before Voters Do

The Supreme Court cleared party-coordinated ads for candidate discounts just as the midterm spending season began.

A row of brass house keys lies beside a blank ledger, plain mortgage folders and an unmarked calculator on an office table.

Lone Star StateSep 5, 2026Commentary

Ken Paxton Reports Seven Homes, No Rental Income And Three Missing Mortgages

The Senate nominee's federal disclosure places his net worth between $1 million and $27 million while leaving voters considerable room to locate the rest.

Folded voting booths are stacked beside the wall of an empty community-center gym, with a few booths still standing.

Lone Star StateSep 4, 2026Commentary

Tarrant County Finds 92 Polling Places It Can Do Without

The approved November plan has 224 Election Day sites, down from 316 in 2022. Officials say the remaining locations can handle the task.

A stack of unmarked budget folders held by a binder clip rests in an empty congressional-style committee room.

Fiscal ResponsibilitySep 4, 2026Commentary

Congress Secures Government Funding Through The Part Where Congress Faces Voters

Trump signed the extension through December 11. The full-year spending decisions will remain available for a post-election reunion.

A blank folded ballot, unlabeled district maps, a red pencil and eraser shavings lie on a wooden election-office table.

Election 2026Sep 4, 2026Commentary

Missouri's Voters Granted Unexpected Role In Choosing Their Congressional Map

The state Supreme Court ordered a referendum and restored the 2022 districts for November. The attorney general plans to ask Washington to intervene.

A stack of blank voter files sits beneath a large question-mark-shaped paperweight beside an unchecked citizenship box.

Election 2026Aug 31, 2026Commentary

DHS Finds 250,000 Possible Noncitizen Voters, Tells States It Is Not Confident They Are Noncitizens

The administration is promoting a national election-security case while state officials wait for evidence and a reproducible method.

An empty campaign office desk shows two blank laptop screens beside a removed picture frame and a roll of packing tape.

Election 2026Aug 30, 2026Commentary

Trump Endorsement Wins The Primary, Then Leaves The Campaign Website

Republican candidates prized the president's support in spring. Several discovered independent leadership by summer.

An empty rural polling room contains sealed voting-machine cases, two visitor clipboards, and a rope barrier beneath fluorescent lights.

Election 2026Aug 28, 2026Commentary

Wyoming Investigates Federal Election Monitors For Monitoring Too Aggressively

Two Justice Department officials tried to interview voters and examine tabulators after their notice may have gone to the wrong email address.

A windowless data center stands beyond a rural cornfield, separated from a farmhouse by utility poles and a gravel road.

Big TechAug 26, 2026Commentary

Bipartisanship Returns As Everyone Agrees The Data Center Should Be Somewhere Else

Conservative farmers and environmental groups have found common ground in sending America's AI infrastructure to a neighboring county.

An empty Senate-style desk holds a blank brass nameplate beside a neatly folded South Carolina state flag.

Election 2026Aug 26, 2026Commentary

Political Outsider Wins Senate Nomination With A Famous Name, An Appointment And The President

Darline Graham defeated a five-term congressman after entering the race as the sitting senator and the late senator's sister.

Election 2026Aug 24, 2026Commentary

Supreme Court Clears The President To Restrict The Mail Voting He Personally Uses, Adds That Time Will Tell

The justices lifted the block on his order without deciding whether anything done under it is legal. 'Time will tell,' they wrote, of a midterm two months away.

A gloved hand slides a plain white envelope into the slot of a blue curbside mailbox on a quiet suburban street.

Election 2026Aug 19, 2026Commentary

President Personally Mails In The Ballot He Spent Years Warning You Not To Trust

Palm Beach County records show the president voted by mail in Florida's primary, five months after he signed an order making mail voting harder for everyone else.

Rows of empty cardboard voting booths fill a school gymnasium as a man in a dark suit stands watching with his arms crossed.

Election 2026Aug 19, 2026Commentary

Justice Department To Send A Record 1,000 Monitors To Watch The People Voting

The department will deploy more election observers than any administration on record. Officials emphasize the monitors will watch the process, which this year prominently includes the voters.

Five figures carry briefcases and rolling bags on the United States Capitol steps before sunrise.

Election 2026Aug 13, 2026Commentary

Senate Finds the Votes to Go Home, Not to Pass Election Integrity

The chamber confirmed an attorney general, advanced Russia sanctions and approved stopgap funding. Elements of the proof-of-citizenship proposal were deferred until September.

Trays of sealed mail ballots beside a gavel and legal binder in a federal courtroom.

Election 2026Aug 13, 2026Commentary

Judge Again Blocks Trump Mail-Voting Order Ahead of Midterms

The administration calls it election security. The court says the executive branch cannot regulate elections with fewer than 90 days to go.