Thursday, October 29, 2026
Welcome to the Blackout Evening Brief. XVOA brings you the day’s biggest political, social and international developments, explain why I think they matter, and link to the original reporting so you can learn more. When a story comes from video, I explain it here so you don’t have to watch.
Also tonight, the Pentagon’s account of Brett Sylvia’s firing has changed, Black communities question who represents their interests, and Patrick Stewart has died.
DOJ must identify the states it pressured over voters and ballots
Five days before the midterm elections, a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to identify all the states it contacted since July with demands to remove voters, withhold ballots or set ballots aside.
Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to comply by noon Friday, October 30.
Democratic officials and organizations have sued to try to stop the letters from interfering with state control of their elections. The groups’ attorney said that by threatening action against state election officials, the DOJ could be getting states to do something the administration can’t do itself. The DOJ has said the letters don’t require states to take any actions, but just let them know of potential violations.
The move by Judge Boasberg comes as he wrestles with whether to grant an injunction stopping the administration’s letter-writing campaign. The judge questioned whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue, but let them pursue discovery that might help their case. He said he’s aiming to have a decision by Monday, November 2.
The order could offer insight as to how widespread the DOJ’s effort has been. Letters to at least California and Washington have become public. In his October 28 response, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the voter file DOJ sent his office contained duplicate entries, U.S. citizens and people who aren’t active registered voters, and was missing key information for cross-referencing. His state pushed back publicly. What about other states that received similar demands? Did they respond? Did they push back?
Reporting: Associated Press · Democracy Docket · Roll Call · Steve Hobbs’s response
“We are in a constitutional crisis”
Voting-rights lawyer Marc Elias, whose firm represents the Democratic plaintiffs in Boasberg’s case, made that pronouncement on Democracy Docket’s livestream Thursday evening. The administration, he said, is already interfering with elections in multiple states, with lawyers and judges struggling to keep up.
In California, officials in at least four counties have been hit with federal subpoenas seeking voter information related to criminal investigations into purported noncitizen voting, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday. Some subpoenas were sent earlier, and one was received Thursday. This comes after a judge on Wednesday rejected DOJ’s argument that certain ballots should be set aside.
Also on Thursday, a three-judge panel at the Ninth Circuit grilled the government about resuming armed DHS home visits to assess a person’s eligibility to vote right before an election. “So, why is the rush?” asked Judge Sidney Thomas. The government is fighting an injunction that restricted those visits in nine states. The comments aren’t a decision.
In Alaska, DOJ filed an amendment to its lawsuit seeking to prevent Senate election results from being certified if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses and votes cast for someone else, Daniel J. Sullivan, might have changed the outcome. The government also asked the court to shelve pending motions to dismiss its original suit.
Marc Elias also discussed a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Potter County Republican Party in Texas demanding a hand count of all paper ballots in the state before federal election results can be certified, even while conceding they aren’t alleging that past Potter County results were altered or reported incorrectly.
This is why I want you to pay attention to all of these stories even when you see a headline that might seem to give you some comfort. These stories all evolve. There are more subpoenas. There are more court filings. There are new demands. And the legal maneuvers could have major implications for what election workers are able to do, what voters might have to prove to cast a ballot, and how long it takes for votes to be counted and results to be certified.
Reporting: San Francisco Chronicle · Democracy Docket: DHS hearing · Alaska filing · The Texas Tribune
Democracy Docket livestream (optional video)
Flagged mail-in ballots in North Carolina may still need your attention
A Common Cause analysis of North Carolina mail-in ballots processed through Oct. 24 found that about 6% had an issue. This number includes ballots that were corrected as well as those that need some action, and this is not a final rejection rate. If yours was flagged, you can reach out to your county Board of Elections to find out if you need to do anything like provide more information or request a new ballot.
Reporting: Common Cause North Carolina · State Board of Elections guidance
AP debunks conspiracy theory about holes in ballot envelopes
An accessibility feature, specifically holes in mail-in ballot envelopes to make it easier for blind and visually impaired voters to find where to sign, is fueling a false conspiracy theory that elections are rigged. AP reported Thursday that holes in the mail-in ballot envelopes in Ventura County, California, are not meant to show anyone how you voted. Election officials say one of the holes helps election workers confirm that the ballot was removed from the envelope.
Reporting: Associated Press
Pentagon rescinds thank-you for fired Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia
Since our brief this morning, the Joint Staff pulled a statement thanking Sylvia for his service. An unnamed senior Pentagon official told Reuters Thursday that Sylvia failed polygraph exams about leaking classified information three times and that his case was passed to the Justice Department. Two other Pentagon sources disputed the claims to CBS News. A referral to DOJ is not a finding of wrongdoing, and without seeing the evidence for these claims and counterclaims, the public can’t assess the accusations.
Reporting: Reuters · Associated Press · CBS News
NYT: Trump was warned a year ago about suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang
The New York Times reported Thursday that Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, has been identified by U.S. intelligence officials as a Chinese intelligence asset who cultivated a relationship with Jensen Huang, the CEO of chipmaker Nvidia. Unnamed sources told the paper that Trump was told this about a year ago and took no action, and that companies connected to Alice Huang have continued to purchase Nvidia chips since. Nvidia says these interactions are routine customer activity and denies sharing sensitive national security or trade-secret information with her. This doesn’t establish that Jensen Huang knowingly aided espionage, but it does raise significant questions about the administration’s response.
Reporting: The New York Times, via GV Wire · TechCrunch
Two people have died after being shot by FBI agents this week in the Chicago area
The Chicago Defender reported Thursday on the deaths of Chadwick Clark Jr. and Oscar Isaya-Corrales, who were both shot and killed by FBI agents this week. Clark, 22, was killed by an agent executing a warrant in Dixmoor on Wednesday. His family says that he had a 2-year-old daughter and was about to start a new job. The FBI has not said why its agent opened fire and said its Inspection Division will review the shooting. In Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on Monday, an off-duty FBI agent shot and killed Isaya-Corrales, who the FBI said was shooting at other people. Local officials have asked for an independent investigation into that shooting.
Reporting: Chicago Defender
Black voters turned out in Louisiana’s early voting despite redistricting efforts to undercut their representation, but now what?
Black voters accounted for 179,094 votes cast during early voting in Louisiana, state figures show, Verité News reported Thursday. Turnout doesn’t equal representation, though, Capital B reported Thursday, particularly in redrawn congressional maps that limit Black representation. In Opelousas, Louisiana, Capital B followed community organizer Patrick Guillory around a community where streets and water systems haven’t been improved in years to ask about representation after the Supreme Court decision gutting its majority-Black congressional district.
Original Note: Black turnout · Original Note: Opelousas
Reporting: Verité News · Capital B: turnout and redistricting · Capital B: Opelousas
How Black gubernatorial and congressional candidates would rein in outrageous health care costs
Black gubernatorial and congressional candidates have laid out a variety of ideas for addressing high health care costs, Word In Black reported Thursday. Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate David Crowley would establish a public option by expanding Medicaid eligibility to all households, for instance, while Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds wants to implement cash prices for common procedures. And Nevada gubernatorial candidate Aaron Ford would implement medical debt relief and ban health insurers from using only AI to deny prior authorizations.
Reporting: Word In Black
Black Lip Bar owner explains why she can’t afford to leave Target, yet
Melissa Butler, founder of The Lip Bar, said Wednesday that Target is still the cosmetics brand’s largest retail partner, even as its sales there dwindle. Butler said The Lip Bar can’t afford to leave Target yet as it works to bolster its business, according to TheGrio’s Wednesday report, which we shared in today’s Notes. Her comments came after some called out The Lip Bar for trying to appeal to customers outside of its core customer base of Black women. Holding Target accountable for backsliding on DEI shouldn’t, though, mean assuming that Butler’s reliance on its shelf space means she’s betrayed her community.
Reporting: TheGrio
Angela Rye sounds the alarm about bots using “electronic Blackface”
Political commentator Angela Rye told TheGrio in an interview reported Wednesday that fake accounts and bots use “electronic Blackface,” impersonating Black people to sow discord on topics ranging from reparations to policing. TheGrio’s report isn’t revealing some nefarious botting scheme we hadn’t already heard about, but Rye’s “electronic Blackface” phrase highlights how important it is to think critically about where content is coming from and who’s behind it.
Reporting: TheGrio
Without evidence, Benjamin Netanyahu claims fraud in Israel election
Benjamin Netanyahu alleged Thursday that the strong showing for Arab parties in Israel’s election was driven in part by voter fraud, although Netanyahu offered no public evidence for his claim. Election officials are investigating potential infractions but say the election’s integrity was not systematically compromised, Reuters reported. Netanyahu’s attempts to delegitimize Israel’s Arab community matter because their votes could be pivotal for building an alternative to a Netanyahu-led government. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, called for allegations to be investigated, Reuters reported, but said Israel’s Arab community shouldn’t be tarnished for exercising their right to vote.
Reporting: Reuters
Patrick Stewart, beloved Shakespearean actor known for playing dignified leaders, dies at 86
Patrick Stewart, the Shakespearean actor known for his roles as Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men and Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek, died Wednesday in Los Angeles at 86, Associated Press reported. His spokesperson announced Stewart’s death Thursday. Stewart will be remembered for playing commanding, principled characters, as well as a career full of other distinguished work.
Reporting: Associated Press, via MPR News
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"An unnamed senior Pentagon official LEAKED to Reuters Thursday that Sylvia failed polygraph exams about LEAKING classified information three times and that his case was passed to the Justice Department under whose lofty auspices there will be more LEAKS and more ADVANCED LEAKAGE being planned for tomorrow's LEAKS today."
---> An unnamed senior Pentagon official told Reuters Thursday that Sylvia failed polygraph exams about leaking classified information three times and that his case was passed to the Justice Department.
^^^ WTAF??? Our GENERALS are now being polygraphed???