Aloha Reader,

Grab your coffee. This one's a deep dive, but it's the one that matters most this year.

What's inside

• National news: The regime's three-phase plan to steal the election, and ours to stop it
• We ❤️ NY: Mamdani just showed the country how primaries work
• Take action: Tell USPS to do its job and deliver the ballots
• State news: Ed Case ducks a debate, Della takes to the parade route

This newsletter always covers national and state news - your local chapter covers county and local happenings. And you're always in control of what lands in your inbox: update your preferences here any time.

National news

This is the fight that decides every other fight

2026 may be the most consequential election year in our history. Americans can no longer take free and fair elections for granted. From now until January 4, 2027 - the day the new Congress is sworn in - Indivisible Hawai'i is making elections and the peaceful transfer of power our top priority. Specifically:

1. The Hawai'i state primary (July 21–August 8)
2. The general election on November 3, where flippable U.S. House and Senate seats are in play
3. Everything in between - the full stretch until the new Congress is sworn in

Our other action initiatives are taking a back seat for now. Not because those fights don't matter - it's that everything else depends on winning this one first.

Indivisible National sets the strategy, and our statewide network and chapter leads are listening closely and acting on it. But the real engine is you - our members are the grassroots, and your voice is what carries this fight to the people who trust you most: your family, your friends, your neighbors. The scale of what we're up against can feel overwhelming, but so is the power we have - when we use it. One conversation at a time, one shared link at a time, that's how this gets won.

This issue runs longer than usual because this is the fight that decides every other fight. Read it, then help us spread the word.

Election sabotage: They have a plan to deceive, disrupt, and deny

That's not hyperbole. It's a documented strategy - which is somehow worse.

In Thursday's What's the Plan - Indivisible's weekly strategy call with organizers and leaders from across the country - Corey Dukes of Protect Democracy joined Indivisible co-founders Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg to lay out the threat.

In 2020, Trump's insurgent mob nearly disrupted the peaceful transfer of power from a war room in a Willard Hotel suite. In 2026, we expect the full machinery of the federal government to be doing the work instead, deployed exactly as Protect Democracy laid out in its March 2026 report, Executive Override, in three phases:

Deceive

Spread election lies as official policy. Raid state election offices (like in Fulton County, Georgia, in January). Gut the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the agency built to defend states against cyberattacks. Silence fact-checkers. Manufacture doubt before a single ballot is cast. We've all watched the Big Lie become the MAGA pledge of allegiance - even here in Hawai'i, election commission meetings keep getting derailed by it. That's not by accident.

Disrupt

Voter suppression: Make it harder to vote, and make people pay for resisting. We saw what happened in Minneapolis. Now Trump, Homan, and Mullen can threaten Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agent deployment anywhere - and in swing districts, ICE patrols can double as a tool to keep voters home.

The so-called SAVE America Act, passed by the House in February, would require documentary proof of citizenship to register - locking out an estimated 9% of eligible voters who lack ready access to the paperwork (especially married women). Trump’s version of SAVE even requires you present your citizenship documentation at the polling station too!

On Wednesday, Trump canceled the signing of the wildly popular and genuinely bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, demanding the Senate pass SAVE America first. As Corey explained, he doesn't need it to pass - he needs the excuse it gives him to later claim November's elections were invalid because that law wasn't in force.

Mail-in voting is getting worse. Trump's March 31 executive order directed the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to withhold ballot delivery from any state that won't hand over its confidential voter file - which Postmaster General David Steiner confirmed under oath on Wednesday. The next day, Judge Indira Talwani ruled key parts of the order unconstitutional - a real win, though it currently protects only the 23 states and D.C. that sued, not automatically Hawai'i. Expect an appeal, and remember: this administration ignores court rulings it doesn't like anyway. In addition, mail-in ballots have to be mailed earlier because the USPS has changed their policy on postmark dates and the Supreme Court will be issuing a decision soon that could invalidate any ballots received after election day.

Deny

Contest results they don't like. Fulton County was the dress rehearsal: after the election, the FBI seizes ballots, secretaries of state challenge results, the Department of Justice litigates, and the pardoned January 6 crowd disrupts certification again. You've probably heard the rigged-election claims about the June 2 California primary - never mind that L.A. counts ballots behind glass walls for public observers. Multiply that by 200 congressional districts, and you've got November's disinformation campaign.

Now here's our plan: rehabilitate, reclaim, rebuff

Take a breath. That was a lot, and it's meant to feel that way - but here's the thing about a documented plan: it can be countered with one too. We don't need to out-resource them. We need to out-organize them, one conversation and one ballot at a time.

Rehabilitate

The primaries are our opportunity to remake the Democratic Party into an effective opposition. Replace the complacent politicians with forward-looking leaders who understand this is a fight against fascism. In Hawai'i, our mission is clear: Replace Ed Case. Action items for Jarrett's campaign are below in State News.

Reclaim

Reclaim congressional majorities in the House and Senate. The only way to beat a rigged game is to win it by a margin too big to rig - overwhelming turnout, overwhelming numbers, no room for doubt. Remember, that’s how Hungary fought back and won against Orban’s authoritarian rule.

A blue Congress doesn't just block the worst of what's coming; it gives us the power to impeach Trump and his most incompetent dishonest cabinet officials, and to build the investigative committees we need to expose the corruption Trump, his family, and his cronies have made no effort to hide.

Slowly, deliberately, we reclaim what we overwhelmingly want: a government that works for us, not the 1%. So let’s flip Congress blue!

📢 Take action: Find your nearest postcarding event, or sign up to write postcards from home.

Rebuff

We need everyone to become loud defenders of truth against the crescendo of disinformation, from now through the elections and the swearing-in ceremonies in January 2027. None of us needs to do everything. Each of us can do something.

📢 Take action:

• Volunteer as an election observer. Register here.
• Find your nearest secure ballot drop box now.
• Sign up for ballot notifications.
• Make sure friends and family have an actual voting plan, not just an intention.

We ❤️ NY (and the lesson it just taught us)

On Tuesday, New York showed the country what a primary election can do when you take it seriously.

Months ago, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York City's Democratic Socialists of America endorsed three congressional candidates and campaigned hard for all three. All three won: Brad Lander over incumbent Representative Dan Goldman in the 10th district, Claire Valdez over Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the open 7th, and - the night's biggest upset - first-time candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier over five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat in the 13th.

The lesson: Use the primary to hold the party accountable and elect leaders who fight for the people, not special interests. New York met the moment in their primary. We can meet it in ours - starting with Jarrett Keohokalole in Hawaii’s Congressional District 1 (CD1).

Block the USPS voter suppression rule

Have you already sent USPS your comment on the ballot mail rule? If yes, Mahalo 😊

Haven't yet? You've still got time. The public comment period closes July 2 - and even though Judge Talwani blocked the rule, this fight isn't over until USPS hears from enough of us that they can't pretend otherwise. Let's make it overwhelming.

📢 Take action: Email your comment (name and address included) to PCFederalRegister@usps.gov, subject line "Ballot Mail." Or use the League of Women Voters easy form at USPS Rule Comments. Deadline: July 2, 2026.

State news

Ed Case is trying to deny voters a choice

​Ed Case told us where he stands when he voted for the SAVE Act. Now he won't debate or show up to unscripted events. The silence was deafening Wednesday when he skipped the Civil Beat Know Your Candidate Forum entirely. (Jarrett Keohokalole showed up - his interview's worth a watch.)

That's why our top priority this summer is helping Jarrett beat Case in the CD1 primary. Whoever wins the primary is likely to win in November. We're writing postcards statewide to reach persuadable voters, and given how low primary turnout usually runs, it'll pay off.

📢 Take action:

• Find your nearest postcard party: register here​
• Order packets to write at home: ReplaceEdCase@indivisiblehawaii.org
• Wave signs or canvass: find an event here​

Della Au Belatti for Lieutenant Governor

Indivisible Hawai'i has endorsed Della Au Belatti for Lieutenant Governor. We're thrilled that she'll be doing double duty on July 4th, walking with Indivisibles at two parades on two different islands in a single day - the Kailua (Oʻahu Windward) parade that morning, then a flight over, and the Kailua-Kona parade on Hawai'i Island that afternoon. Join us and wear your blue shirts.

📢 Take action:

• ​Register for the Kailua (Oʻahu Windward) Parade​
• ​Register for the Kailua-Kona (Big Island) Parade​

Or check Della's full event list for something near you.

Our job right now

Our job is simple, and it never stops: keep the pressure on, and bring more people into this fight. The unengaged become the engaged one conversation at a time. If this newsletter helped you make sense of the week, forward it to someone you care about - and invite them to sign up so they can join our fight for a multicultural, multiracial liberal democracy.

Warmest Aloha

Sam Guckenheimer​ ​Editorial Lead ​Want to support our work? Donate here​ ​ ​​​​​​

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