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Jen Fifield

@jenafifield.bsky.social
9K followers 814 following 532 posts

ProPublica reporter covering voting, elections and democracy. Phoenix native. Mom of two. Send tips: In chat or on Signal: jenafifield.01

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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 19h
Important story from @lisalsong.bsky.social out today. An idea that the White House Office of Management and Budget has quietly proposed will have far-reaching implications on voter registration drives www.propublica.org/article/disa...
propublica.org
This White House Plan Threatens Funding That Helps Disabled Americans Vote
A new rule from the Office of Management and Budget would prohibit anyone from using federal grant money for voter registration drives. It’s part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to restr...
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Polite Yet Ultimately Malevolent Mailman @usps.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
For reference, the average residential route gets somewhere between 0-3 certified letters per day. The generally estimated time added each day per cert is ~2 minutes. At 500ish registered voters per route, this would have added about 16 hours 40 mins per route, or 24 hours 40 mins per day.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Exclusive: Earlier this month, the Supreme Court blocked an executive order restricting voting by mail in ways that could have thrown the upcoming midterms into chaos. But the White House originally had far more disruptive plans, @propublica.org has learned. 🧵
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Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The Trump administration floated an idea that would have virtually shut down mail voting: requiring all ballots to be delivered exclusively through certified mail, ProPublica has learned. by @jenafifield.bsky.social @peterelkind.bsky.social
propublica.org
The Untold Origins of Trump’s Plan to Sharply Restrict Mail-In Voting
ProPublica’s reporting reveals for the first time the extent of the White House’s role in trying to dictate how mail-in ballots are processed, spurring behind-the-scenes drama that played out for near...
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
As Supreme Court weighs new USPS mail voting rules, new audit finds a lack of training for post office staff, deficiencies in how ballots were tracked and errors leading to delays. Experts say it raises questions ahead of the midterms. Full story 👇
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Exclusive @propublica.org: Some U.S. Postal Service facilities failed to properly handle ballots during primary elections, according to new audit. The findings come as the Supreme Court weighs whether to allow USPS to regulate mail ballots during the Nov election www.propublica.org/article/post...
propublica.org
U.S. Postal Service Failed to Properly Handle Some Ballots During This Year’s Primary Elections, Audit Finds
An inspector general’s audit found a lack of training for post office staff, deficiencies in how ballots were tracked and errors leading to delays. Experts say it raises questions ahead of the midterm...
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
“USPS officials confirmed it was possible that one ballot with a bad barcode or wrong voter information within the more than 2 million ballots could delay the entire mailing, according to two people who attended the related committee meeting.”
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Lisa Song @lisalsong.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
THE story to read today:
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Exclusive from @propublica.org, details from inside USPS planning meetings that corroborate the whistleblower report warning of potential for mass disenfranchisement if mail voting regulations move forward for the midterms NEW: www.propublica.org/article/mail...
propublica.org
New Mail Voting Rules Moved Forward Despite USPS Officials’ Concerns About Mass Disenfranchisement
In internal meetings, officials worried the rules they were drafting could delay or block ballots from reaching large swaths of eligible voters for the upcoming midterms.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
If you have tips about the US Postal Service's effort to regulate mail voting in the midterms, please reach out. You can reach me securely on Signal at jenafifield.01 or contact our tip line at 917-512-0201.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
1/ Just in: An anonymous federal worker has filed a whistleblower disclosure warning that the U.S. Postal Service's attempt to create a system to regulate mail voting for the midterms has been "rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed." @propublica.org has the details 👇
Screenshot of the top of a whistleblower disclosure titled "USPS Rushed Implementation of New and Untested IT Systems Threatens U.S. Ballot Mail Delivery." Addressed to Senator Blumenthal, the first point details how the whistleblower has "significant concerns about the USPS's secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed process for the creation and implementation of an entirely new and untested set of IT systems" intended for the 2026 midterms.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Second injunction has just been vacated, and lawsuits have already been filed against the final USPS rule. The rule is technically in effect right now, but court challenges will attempt to block quickly.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Here's what to expect after the Supreme Court's ruling yesterday related to the Trump administration's plan to try to restrict mail voting in the midterms. Efforts to either block the plan or implement it before November will now progress rapidly, sources tell @propublica.org 🧵
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Peter Elkind @peterelkind.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
At @ProPublica, we're eager to learn more. If you have inside details you're willing to share, please contact me at 817-691-3110 or ProPublica's tip line at 917-512-0201 (both on Signal).
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 18/08/2026
On Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 4 p.m. ET, join ProPublica’s Mark Olalde and environment journalists @scribeguy.bsky.social, Tony Briscoe and @halleparker.bsky.social to discuss the unprecedented rollback of the Clean Air Act and what it means for public health in urban and rural communities nationwide.
events.propublica.org
Clean Air Act: Dismantling One of the Country’s Bedrock Environmental Laws
Join us for a discussion about the rollback of the Clean Air Act and what it means for public health in communities across America.
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Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
A highly unusual Census Bureau report that President Trump is using to reup dubious claims of widespread illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens has ties to a Trump-aligned think tank, NPR has learned.
npr.org
Experts raise alarms over Census Bureau report Trump is touting on noncitizen voting
A Trump-aligned think tank has ties to a highly unusual Census Bureau report that the president is using to renew false claims of widespread voting by non-U.S. citizens in 2020, NPR has learned.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
We are still learning about new states in which Homeland Security agents are pursuing noncitizen voter leads. In Arizona, @propublica.org obtained five subpoenas sent to the secretary of state's office requesting records about alleged noncitizen voters. Link to full docs in 🧵
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
ICYMI: Our @propublica.org investigation found that the Trump administration used Homeland Security Investigations' resources/data to try to prove election fraud, ignoring internal concerns the effort would violate citizen privacy and deliver inflated results. www.propublica.org/article/nonc...
propublica.org
Inside Trump’s Failed Hunt for Noncitizen Voters
To prove the president’s claims of illegal voting, the government has harnessed the power of Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of DHS established to combat the worst cross-border crime. So fa...
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Peter Elkind @peterelkind.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
"Dysfunctional": Trump tapped law-enforcement muscle and criminal data systems to generate dire warnings about hundreds of thousands of noncitizens on voter rolls. But after struggles to investigate, his mountain of claims has turned into a molehill. www.propublica.org/article/nonc...
propublica.org
Inside Trump’s Failed Hunt for Noncitizen Voters
To prove the president’s claims of illegal voting, the government has harnessed the power of Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of DHS established to combat the worst cross-border crime. So fa...
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
New investigation is out, including an explanation of how Trump’s claim of more than 250K noncitizen voters in four Democratic states came about. And more exclusive reporting from our team @propublica.org …
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Doug Bock Clark @dougbockclark.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
1/ This spring, while investigating the Trump administration’s efforts to influence the midterm elections, my reporting partner @jenafifield.bsky.social and I noticed something unprecedented, something very troubling… 🧵👇
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A year ago, a midlevel Homeland Security Investigations agent proposed using the agency's databases to find noncitizens on voter rolls. The White House quickly got onboard. A new @propublica.org investigation reveals what happened next and how this unprecedented effort fell apart.🧵
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Doug Bock Clark @dougbockclark.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
1/ Wondering what the FBI has been doing with 2020 election materials it seized in a raid earlier this year, and how it figures into Trump’s plans for the midterm elections? Well, @ProPublica has been working to find out. 🧵👇
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Idaho Attorney General's office (Republican) responds to the DOJ letter that went out to all 50 states threatening to prosecute state and local election officials who don't clean voter rolls: "Stop threatening your friends" scoop via @audreydutton.bsky.social @propublica.org.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
NEW from @propublica: Trump pushes out remaining members of bipartisan election commission ahead of midterms www.propublica.org/article/fede...
propublica.org
Trump Pushes Out Remaining Members of Bipartisan Election Commission Ahead of Midterms
President Donald Trump has fired Benjamin Hovland and Thomas Hicks, the Democrats on the federal Election Assistance Commission, while Christy McCormick, the Republican, was allowed to resign, sources...
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
NEW: The remaining three members of the Election Assistance Commission have been pushed out, ProPublica has exclusively learned from sources familiar with the matter. The three members were Benjamin Hovland and Thomas Hicks, Democrats, and Christy McCormick, a Republican.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The Department of Justice just sent ProPublica this response: "The Department sent these letters to all 50 states and the District of Columbia, asking for voluntary compliance in a timely manner with their obligations under federal law to ensure only citizens vote in federal elections.”
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
NEW The Justice Department is threatening to prosecute election officials across the country for failing to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls, an escalation of the Trump administration's attempts to prosecute election fraud, according to letters I obtained with Andy Mannix @propublica.org 🧵
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
New: DHS had promised four states the ability to use SAVE tool to check their voter rolls for noncitizens, in a settlement. Now that new SAVE functions are shut down, those states say DHS is violating the settlement. Judge asked DHS to respond by tomorrow. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
NEW: The Trump administration has shut down a controversial Homeland Security tool it had touted as a way to find noncitizens who’d illegally registered to vote, @propublica.org has learned. 🧵
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Exclusive: A Kansas woman was detained at the airport by Customs for voting as a noncitizen, marking an escalation of Trump’s attempts to find election fraud. CBP typically plays no part in these investigations. 🧵https://www.propublica.org/article/noncitizen-voter-detained-airport-customs
propublica.org
A Noncitizen Says She Was Told She Could Vote. Then Customs Detained Her at the Airport and Threatened to Deport Her.
The case, which hasn’t previously been reported, marks a new escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to find and prosecute instances of noncitizen voting, despite evidence that it is rare.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Love the interviews with election clerks in this @elizlanders.bsky.social report. Thanks for including me and featuring our work @propublica.org. "Officials sound alarm over political interference in midterms" Full report: www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
pbs.org
Election officials sound alarm over political interference in midterms
After Democrats won an election in Virginia to redraw congressional maps in their favor, President Trump called it, without evidence, a “rigged election” and “travesty of justice.” It’s the latest exa...
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Exclusive new details about Trump's effort to 'take over' the midterm elections, in a monthslong investigation from @dougbockclark.bsky.social & me: www.propublica.org/article/trum...
propublica.org
Inside Trump’s Effort to “Take Over” the Midterm Elections
When Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election, the institutional guardrails of American democracy held. But if faced with the same tests today, those barriers — and people who held the line — would l...
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
NEW: In 2020, as President Trump tried to overturn his loss to Joe Biden, the institutional guardrails of American democracy held — barely. A @propublica.org investigation found that, ahead of the midterms, Trump has systematically demolished those guardrails. 🧵
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
UPDATE: A coalition of minority- and voting-rights organizations have sued the Texas secretary of state to try to halt the use of the federal SAVE tool to identify noncitizens on voter rolls, citing @propublica.org reporting on the tool’s inaccuracies. www.propublica.org/article/save...
propublica.org
“Not Ready for Prime Time.” A Federal Tool to Check Voter Citizenship Keeps Making Mistakes.
The Department of Homeland Security pushed out the revamped tool while it was still adding data. That led to widespread misidentification, particularly for citizens born outside the U.S.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
UPDATE: The Arizona Senate has released the federal grand jury subpoena for the records related to the partisan audit of Maricopa County's 2020 election. Link to full record: www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
ProPublica has exclusively obtained the FBI property receipt detailing what an agent collected from the Arizona Senate under the federal grand jury subpoena we wrote about yesterday. @propublica.org 🧵
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Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
NEW: Election Records Handed Over to the FBI in Maricopa County, Arizona, Could Be Fatally Flawed, Experts Say @jenafifield.bsky.social
propublica.org
Election Records Handed Over to the FBI in Maricopa County, Arizona, Could Be Fatally Flawed, Experts Say
Unlike in Fulton County, Georgia, where actual ballots were seized, a federal grand jury subpoenaed digital data related to a partisan audit of the county’s vote.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
NEW: A federal tool meant to find noncitizens on voter rolls is consistently marking citizens as noncitizens, especially if they were born outside the U.S., causing chaos as election clerks try not to disenfranchise voters, @zachdespart.bsky.social and I found. 🧵 www.propublica.org/article/save...
propublica.org
“Not Ready for Prime Time.” A Federal Tool to Check Voter Citizenship Keeps Making Mistakes.
The Department of Homeland Security pushed out the revamped tool while it was still adding data. That led to widespread misidentification, particularly for citizens born outside the U.S.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 31/01/2026
“The idea that federal officials would seize ballots in an attempt to prove fraud is especially dangerous in this context when we know … the Georgia 2020 election has been extensively counted, recounted and investigated,” one expert said. By @dougbockclark.bsky.social @jenafifield.bsky.social
propublica.org
FBI’s Search of Georgia Election Center Is “Dangerous,” Experts Warn
The search warrant, which sought 2020 election ballots, tabulator tapes, digital data and voter rolls from Fulton County, marked what experts described as a significant escalation in President Donald ...
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
good pt
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
"Election officials say trust with CISA is broken — and may not come back," via @jessicahuseman.bsky.social www.votebeat.org/2026/01/15/c...
votebeat.org
Election officials say trust with CISA is broken — maybe permanently
States once relied on CISA for election security. Now officials say politicization and retreating support have shattered that trust.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
The fight over changing "No Labels Party" to "Arizona Independent Party" is important to pay attention to especially for Congressional races. If you're new to AZ, registering to vote and see "Arizona Independent Party" you might think it means you'll be unaffiliated but really...
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Melody Joy Kramer @mkramer.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
If you donate $40 to @propublica.org for Giving Tuesday, you can get this awesome Tips Tote: ‘Someone reading this tote has the next big story. Is it you?’ give.propublica.org/campaign/749...
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
ICYMI: The letter 10 secretaries of state sent yesterday to DOJ & DHS asking if they really ran states' voter rolls through SAVE (the newly expanded system that checks citizenship). The election officials have legal and privacy concerns and want to know why they were misled.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
New law in Montana requiring birth year on mail-in ballot leads to thousands of rejected ballots, via Micah Drew dailymontanan.com/2025/11/12/t...
dailymontanan.com
Thousands of ballots rejected due to new birth year law • Daily Montanan
Larger counties saw higher rejection rates; secretary of state declared election overall successful
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
"DOJ asked for 2020 election records. Fulton County responded: By ignoring it." via @calebgroves.bsky.social www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ajc.com
DOJ asked for 2020 election records. Fulton County responded: By ignoring it.
Fulton County faces pressure to hand over documents from the 2020 election, but the county isn't budging.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
"Trump's Pardon of Giuliani: How Presidential Clemency Powers Work," via @gregorykorte.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Trump’s Pardon of Giuliani: How Presidential Clemency Powers Work
The US president’s power to pardon is both one of the most absolute and misunderstood provisions of the Constitution. Rooted in the “prerogative of mercy” of English kings dating back to the seventh c...
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 05/11/2025
BREAKING: Maine voters reject changes to voting in the state, including requiring photo ID and having a shorter early voting period. Follow AP for live updates.
bit.ly
Live updates: US voters head to the polls in first general election since Trump's return to power
One year after Donald Trump retook the presidency, 2025 Election Day includes closely watched races for New York City mayor, New Jersey governor and California's Proposition 50.
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 05/11/2025
BREAKING: California voters have approved a new U.S. House map designed to boost Democrats in 2026, aiming to blunt GOP changes elsewhere. Follow AP for live updates.
bit.ly
Live updates: US voters head to the polls in first general election since Trump's return to power
One year after Donald Trump retook the presidency, 2025 Election Day includes closely watched races for New York City mayor, New Jersey governor and California's Proposition 50.
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