January 2026 | American Democracy Minute

Think Your Mail-in Ballot Gets Automatically Postmarked on the Day You Drop it Off? Think Again.

January 22, 2026January 22, 2026

Most Americans assume that postal mail is postmarked the day it is received. But in August 2025, the U.S. Postal Service clarified its rules for “Postmarks and Postal Possession.” While the post office says it hasn’t changed its policy, its new definition has ramifications for your mailed financial and tax documents, and importantly, your absentee or mail-in ballot.

DOJ Civil Filing Suggests a DOGE Employee May Have Created External Social Security Data Files and Had Contact with Election Denier Group

January 21, 2026January 21, 2026

New lawsuit filings allege a member of Elon Musk’s DOGE team may have created an external file containing personal Social Security information. That month, that employee and another were allegedly contacted by a “political advocacy group” attempting to find evidence of voter fraud.

Redistricting Updates: CA GOP Appeals Prop 50 Maps to SCOTUS, VA Dems Push Constitutional Amendment, NH’s Bill Doomed, MD Stalemated

January 20, 2026January 21, 2026

We have mid-decade congressional redistricting updates today from California, Virginia, New Hampshire and Maryland. The GOP appealed California’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Federal Circuit Courts Block Trump DOJ from Obtaining California and Oregon Voter Data

January 19, 2026January 19, 2026

We have an update on the Trump Department of Justice efforts to force states to turn over voter and personal information for inclusion in its SAVE database. Federal district judges in California and Oregon blocked DOJ’s actions, finding neither federal nor state law compelled the states to do so.

With SCOTUS Appearing Ready to Strike Down More of the Voting Rights Act in 2026, MLK’s 1957 ‘Give Us the Ballot’ Speech is Still Relevant

January 17, 2026January 19, 2026

Years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke on the Brown vs. Board of Education decision during the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial, May 17th, 1957. As the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to strike down more of the VRA in 2026, his words are still relevant today.