* Georgia…

Democrats sued Georgia’s State Election Board on Monday, asking a judge to block new rules the party claims could cause “chaos” and allow local officials to potentially delay or even stop the certification of votes in November.

The suit — filed by the Democratic Party of Georgia and the Democratic National Committee, with backing from Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign — comes after the election board voted to shift its rules regarding the certification process. In a 3-2 vote, the body gave local election officials the power to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying any results. A separate rule will also allow those officials to “examine all election related documentation created” during a race.

The rule changes do not define what “reasonable inquiry” means.

“At minimum, these novel requirements introduce substantial uncertainty in the post-election process and … invite chaos by establishing new processes at odds with existing statutory duties,” the suit says.

* Texas…

A Latino civil rights group is asking the Department of Justice to open an investigation into a series of raids conducted on Latino voting activists and political operatives as part of a sprawling voter fraud inquiry by the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, one of the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organizations, said that many of those targeted were Democratic leaders and election volunteers, and that some were older residents in their 70s and 80s. Gabriel Rosales, the director of the group’s Texas chapter, said that officers conducting the raids took cellphones, computers and documents. He called the raids “alarming” and said they were an effort to suppress Latino voters. […]

The raids were carried out in counties near San Antonio and in South Texas. In a statement last week, Mr. Paxton, a Republican, said they were part of an “ongoing election integrity investigation” that began two years ago to look into allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting. His office has said that it would not comment on the investigation because it is still underway.

That investigation is being carried out by a unit in Mr. Paxton’s office, the election integrity unit, that was created after former President Donald J. Trump began making false claims of fraud in the wake of the 2020 election, and Republican-led states sought to crack down on supposed voter crime. Experts have found that voter fraud remains rare.

* Idaho…

Before students can get a Band-Aid or headache medicine, school nurses and staff in Boise, Idaho, must have permission from a parent after a new law was implemented mandating parental consent for non-life-threatening medical services.

Senate Bill 1329 went into effect in July and includes a section that states that “an individual shall not furnish a health care service or solicit to furnish a health care service to a minor child without obtaining the prior consent of the minor child’s parent.”

It defines health care service as anything that includes a diagnosis, care, screening, prevention, cure, examination, or relief of any physical or mental health condition, illness or injury.

The Boise School District recently sent out a memo to parents about the bill saying they updated its parental consent policy, according to an email from the district that included the memo. Among the things the district said it needed consent for was the use of routine first-aid, Band-Aids, mental health check-ins and over-the-counter headache medicine, the memo states.

* Tennessee…

Tennessee’s top Republican leaders on Monday threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding from left-leaning Memphis should leaders continue with plans to place three local gun control initiatives on the November ballot.

Earlier this year, Memphis’ city council approved asking voters in November if they wanted to tweak the city charter to require permits to carry a handgun, ban the possession of AR-15 style rifles and implement a so-called “red flag” ordinance, which allows law enforcement officials to remove firearms from those found to be an imminent danger to themselves or others.

The city council had been discussing the ballot measures for more than a year, acknowledging at times that they were potentially risking the ire of the Republican-dominant Legislature since the measures likely conflict with Tennessee’s lax gun laws.

Regardless, city council members representing the state’s most populous and Black-majority region said they were willing to “roll the dice.”

* Florida…

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth and restrictions on it for trans adults can be enforced while a lawsuit against it proceeds.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled 2-1 that the state is likely to win the case, known as Doe v. Ladapo, so the injunction against the law should be stayed. Doe is one of the anonymous plaintiffs who sued, and Ladapo is the Florida surgeon general. […]

The ban on gender-affirming care for minors was first enacted in March 2023 through the adoption of rules by the Florida Board of Medicine and Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine at the urging of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Joseph Ladapo, and the Florida Department of Health. SB 254, which was passed by the legislature, signed by the governor, and took effect in May 2023, wrote the ban into state law, subject to a narrow continued-use exception for minors who had started treatment before the ban. SB 254 also created felony criminal and civil penalties for Florida medical providers.

It further added severe restrictions that effectively blocked access to essential medical care for trans adults and minors who would be eligible for the continued-use exception, including requiring that care be provided exclusively by physicians, barring telehealth, and requiring patients to complete unique, onerous, and misleading consent forms.

* Louisiana…

Louisiana is the latest red state to announce additional measures to ensure that non-U.S. citizens are not voting in elections, despite it already being illegal and there being no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order Monday requiring all state government agencies that provide voter registration forms to include a written disclaimer that noncitizens are prohibited from registering to vote or voting. […]

States have also announced new policies. Earlier this month, Alabama officials announced that more than 3,200 registered voters — who have previously been identified as noncitizens by the federal government — will have their registration status changed to inactive. The list could include people who have become naturalized U.S. citizens and as such are legally eligible to vote. Those listed as inactive will have the opportunity to update their information, providing proof of citizenship. […]

[Secretary of State Nancy Landry] said 48 noncitizens have been removed from Louisiana’s voter rolls since 2022.

* Arkansas…

In a state that touts itself as “the most pro-life state in the country,” where abortion is prohibited except to save the life of the mother, timber country in southeast Arkansas is an especially dangerous place to give birth.

Arkansas already has one of the nation’s worst maternal mortality rates, and mothers in this area die at a rate exceeding the state average. Ninety-two percent of recent maternal deaths were preventable, a state review committee found. […]

This spring, facing pressure from business leaders and the medical community, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders launched an initiative to address maternal health, an issue that she acknowledged “we’ve ignored for far too long.” Yet she declined to support extending Medicaid postpartum coverage to a year from 60 days, saying the state’s existing insurance system was enough. Arkansas will soon be one of only two states not adopting such coverage. […]

Though teen birth rates are falling nationally, federal data shows the statistic for Arkansas is almost twice the U.S. average. Lack of access to contraception is a major factor; the rate at which teens in Arkansas have unprotected sex is 75 percent higher, according to a report from the nonprofit Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

* Ohio…

A Republican representative in Ohio could be disqualified under an obscure name change law used earlier this year to target three transgender candidates.

Republican State Rep. Tex Fischer legally changed his name from Austin James Fischer to Austin James Texford Fischer in 2020, according to documents obtained by Cleveland.com. The 28-year-old, who is running in the state’s 58th District after being appointed to the vacant seat in June, did not disclose the change on his petition for candidacy.

The 1995 Ohio law mandates that candidates disclose any name changes within the five years in their petition for candidacy, only including an exception that allows women to omit their maiden names if changed after marriage. The law has bee used to challenge three transgender candidates so far this year.

Arienne Childrey and Bobbie Brooke Arnold were allowed to remain on the ballot by their local election boards, but could still be forced to vacate their seats even after winning their elections for being in violation of state election statutes. The third candidate, Vanessa Joy, was disqualified. […]

The Mahoning County Board of Elections is expected to meet in the coming weeks after a hearing on August 15 ended in a deadlock, with chairman Dave Betras noting the vagueness of the law.

“I hate being placed in this position, but the legislature and courts have placed us in this very position,” he said, according to local station WKBN.

* Georgia…

Kandiss Taylor hosts a program on the network led by “best friend” Stew Peters, a Holocaust denier who has attempted to portray Adolf Hitler as a “hero.” She has also promoted antisemitism, complaining that Jewish people are “controlling everything” and alleging that “we have some Marxist trash using our R who pander to the Jews.”

Taylor isn’t just a random commentator: She’s the District 1 chairwoman for the Georgia Republican Party. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein last year described Taylor’s elected position as a “key” post, noting that the state party “plays a role in mobilizing voters, marshaling activists and, most significantly, determining delegates for the presidential nomination.” […]

In addition to her activities on behalf of the Republican Party, Taylor is the host of the show Jesus. Guns. And Babies. on the Stew Peters Network. Taylor has called Peters her “best friend” and a “truth teller.”

Peters is a virulent antisemite and Holocaust denier who has promoted pro-Hitler propaganda.