Election News Is Great! Election LAW News Is... Mixed.

OA1236 - Elections grab bag! Election news has been accumulating, so Jenessa helps us get caught up on what’s going on. Who’s winning elections? What’s going on with redistricting? Heard something confusing about the mail? Trump back on his bullshit again? Good news, mixed news, debunking alleged bad news, bad news with plans for how to turn things around; we’ve got it all.

Updates since we recorded: The SAVE America Act passed the House. Also the affidavit for the warrant in Georgia was unsealed. We’ll talk about it soon, but the short version is these people really still believe in election conspiracy theories. It’s gross. We’ll survive.

• John Hanna & Julie Carr Smyth (Feb. 1, 2026). Texas stunner: Democrat Taylor Rehmet flips Republican state Senate district Trump won by 17 points, Associated Press.

• Amy Howe (Feb. 4, 2026). Supreme Court allows California to use congressional map benefitting Democrats, SCOTUSBlog.

• Tangipa v. Newsom (docket and SCOTUSBlog coverage), SCOTUSBlog.

• Abbott v. League of United Latin American Citizens (docket and SCOTUSBlog coverage), SCOTUSBlog.

• H.R.7296 - SAVE America Act, Congress.gov.

• H.R.7300 - Make Elections Great Again Act. Congress.gov.

• Domestic Mail Manual 608.11

• Domestic Mail Manual amendment explanation (Nov. 24, 2025). Postmarks and Postal Possession, Federal Register.

• 39 CFR Part 111

• Dan Mooney, What Is RTO? Why Do We Have It?, National Association of Postal Supervisors (Aug. 19, 2025) 

• Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) initiative. (Feb. 2, 2025). Service Standards for Market-Dominant Mail Products, Federal Register.

• 39 CFR Part 121

• Track Your Ballot or Ballot Application, Vote.org.

• 2 U.S.C. § 7 - Time of election

• (Dec. 24, 2025). Table 11: Receipt and Postmark Deadlines for Absentee/Mail Ballots, National Conference of State Legislatures.

• Evan Lee (Jan. 15, 2026) Court holds that all candidates can challenge rules governing vote counting in elections, SCOTUSBlog.

• Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections, 607 U.S. __ (2026).

• Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections (docket and SCOTUSBlog coverage), SCOTUSBlog.

• Amy Howe (Nov. 10, 2025). Justices agree to decide major election law case, SCOTUSBlog.

• Watson v. Republican National Committee (Election Law) (docket and SCOTUSBlog coverage), SCOTUSBlog.

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