by Brad Reed | Oct 2, 2026 | Article, elections, midterms, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint, Voting Rights
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Oct. 02, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
An analysis published Friday by Democracy Docket warned that “tens of thousands” of voters across the US face “risk of disenfranchisement” thanks to actions being taken by the United States Postal Service.
The analysis, written by veteran election reporter Jim Saksa, points to a new USPS policy known as Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) that “will eliminate evening mail pickups from post offices more than 50 miles away from a regional processing facility, most of which are located in major urban areas.”
For people who live in these areas, ballots sent on Election Day will be postmarked and delivered at least a day later than in previous election years, thus making it ineligible to be included in final election tallies.
“In every state, a day’s delay in delivery means that if mail voters wait until the last day or two before the election to mail their ballot,” Saksa explained, “they could be disenfranchised.”
Saksa reported that this policy is currently active in “about 42.5% of all ZIP codes” in the continental US, and is scheduled to eventually take effect in around 70% of all ZIP codes. No additional ZIP codes are expected to be added between now and election day.
Saksa also said that voters concerned about their ballots not being counted should deliver them in person to their local post office, where they can ask an employee to postmark it.
President Donald Trump has tried for the last several months to use USPS to meddle with states’ mail-in voting systems.
In March, the president signed an executive
by Shireen Akram-Boshar | Oct 2, 2026 | elections, Israel, News, Palestinian Citizens of Israel
On Friday, Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the Balad party, withdrew from Israel’s upcoming elections, in a maneuver that will likely cost the left-wing party its relevancy in the Israeli parliament. Israel’s Supreme Court heard appeals on Thursday against the decisions of Israel’s Central Elections Committee, which had voted last week to bar Palestinian parties and two individual candidates from…
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by Brasil de Fato | Oct 1, 2026 | Bernie Sanders, brazil, Congress, Donald Trump, elections, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, News, Trump Administration
Senator Bernie Sanders and 30 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing the Donald Trump administration of waging a pressure campaign against Brazil ahead of the first round of vote on October 4. The letter was sent Thursday, September 24. Illinois Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez led the congressional effort. In it…
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by Steve Benen | Oct 1, 2026 | Congress, elections, Maddowblog, White House
It’s tempting to think Donald Trump would have plenty on his plate right now, but The Wall Street Journal reported (and MS NOW confirmed) that the president recently took time out of his schedule to personally oversee the creation of three propagandistic campaign ads, which are being financed entirely by American taxpayers and which appear to ignore federal law prohibiting the use of public funds for “propaganda purposes.”
In light of the fact that ethics lawyers have used phrases such as “impeachable offense” when discussing the burgeoning scandal, it’s notable that Trump won’t be able to simply blame overzealous aides for this obvious and legally dubious misuse of public money.
With this in mind, a reporter asked Trump at an unrelated White House event on Wednesday why American taxpayers should foot the bill for his campaign ads ahead of the midterms.
Q: “DHS is spending millions of dollars on new ads about you…Why should U.S. taxpayers pay for that?”Trump: “I’m not running for office and I don’t talk about anybody…That’s an ad for the spirit of our country. If somebody said that that’s wrong, I’ll gladly pay the money.”— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-09-30T21:35:58.071Z
“Well, I’m not running for office, first of all, and so, the ads are, you know, given by me, but I’m not running for office,” the president replied, adding, “I’m not promoting myself because I’m not running for office.”
The idea that the commercials, which have run on MS NOW, aren’t promoting Trump is obviously bonkers. All three of the ads are clearly intended to glorify the president, and one of them was literally a Trump campaign ad two years ago.
The underlying
by Michael Fox | Oct 1, 2026 | bolsonaro, brazil, elections, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Trump, Under the Shadow, Under the Shadow Season 2
https://www.spreaker.com/show/5958129/episodes/feed
Brazil votes this Sunday, and the Trump administration has spent months trying to tilt the outcome toward far-right presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. Tariffs. Terrorist designations. Revoked visas. Frequent meetings with the Bolsonaro family. Taken alone, each move looks random. Put the pieces together, and a picture emerges: U.S. interference in Brazil’s 2026 elections.
Over the last year, Trump has met frequently with members of the Bolsonaro family. In June, the State Department put two Brazilian gangs on the terrorist list. Just a few weeks later, Trump shared an article on Truth Social that said Brazil was his next big challenge. Less than a month later, in July, Trump imposed new 25% tariffs on Brazilian goods. In August, Trump revoked the U.S. visa of the Brazilian ambassador.
The Brazilian Intelligence Agency recently raised the risk of external influence and interference by the United States in Brazil’s 2026 elections to a quote, “critical level.”
This is Episode 15 of Under the Shadow, Season 2.
Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.
Follow Under the Shadow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.It is supported, in part, by Global Exchange.
VOTE by October 15: Under the Shadow has been nominated for three podcast Signal Awards. Please consider voting for Under the Shadow and The Real News:
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Panamerican Dispatch
You can check out Michael Fox’s new reporting project on Brazil.
It’s called Panamerican Dispatch. It’s a project of The Real News in partnership with Global Exchange. The website
by Steve Benen | Oct 1, 2026 | 2026 election, elections, Maddowblog, White House
Donald Trump has never taken advantage of the Insurrection Act, although the president has talked about it quite a bit throughout his political career. A year ago this month, during a Fox News interview, the Republican went so far as to say, “Don’t forget I can use the Insurrection Act. … and that’s unquestioned power.”
Earlier this year, he also said of the Insurrection Act, “It does make life a lot easier. You don’t through the court system.”
So when Time magazine spoke with the president for a lengthy, newly published interview, it included a question about that unsettling possibility: “Would you rule out declaring a state of emergency in the lead up to the midterms unless there’s widespread violence in the streets?”
“I don’t rule anything out or in,” Trump replied. “We’ll see. You mean the Insurrection Act?”
When Time clarified that it was, in fact, referring to the Insurrection Act, the president added, “No, I’ve never used it. I could use it. A lot of people think I should use it sometimes.”
At that point, Trump changed the subject, talked about crime rates, and lied about how many undocumented immigrants entered the United States during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The exchange came roughly a month after Trump spoke to a far-right conspiracy theorist, who pitched the president on the idea of unilaterally declaring a national security emergency for the midterm elections — even in the absence of an actual national security emergency — at which point Trump could theoretically impose wildly unnecessary voting restrictions on Americans by fiat and without congressional approval.
“Let me just say, stranger things have happened, OK?” Trump said in response to
