OUR PICKS: DEMOCRACY WATCHA Law That Might Just Save the Midterms | ICE’s New Surveillance State Isn’t Tracking Only Immigrants | Global Press Freedom Dwindles, and more

How Autocrats Meddle with Elections  (Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic)
The Trump administration has its eyes on the midterms and beyond.

A Law That Might Just Save the Midterms  (David French, New York Times)
On Sunday I wrote a column with a singular purpose: I wanted to shake readers out of any complacency they might be feeling about the integrity of the November midterm election. We cannot be sure that it will be free or fair.
President Trump has made it clear — very clear — that he is set to accept only one outcome: MAGA wins. Any other outcome is proof that the Democrats cheated.
Trump’s persistent and grotesque lies create a sense of emergency in the Republican rank and file. They’re convinced that illegal immigrants are voting en masse, that mail-in ballots are vulnerable to large-scale fraud and that deep-blue precincts are deliberately corrupting the count.
And then, once his supporters are sufficiently alarmed, his efforts to overturn the election aren’t viewed as blatant violations of the law, but as necessary emergency measures to save the country from the people who are actually trying to steal the vote — the Democratic Party and its antifa allies.
If Trump’s attack on our elections is rooted in misinformation and impunity, then the answer has to be rooted in truth and accountability. It’s imperative that we confront Trump’s lies wherever we find them while also working for consequential legal change.

Those Seeking to Sue ICE for Injuries or Damage Face an Uphill Battle  (Amy Brittain, Robert Klemko and Maria Sacchetti, Washington Post)
Scores of claims are expected to arise out of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Experts say suing the government will be tough.

ICE’s New Surveillance State Isn’t Tracking Only Immigrants  (David Wallace-Wells, New York Times)
A memo from a Department of Homeland Security official reviewed by CNN and sent to agents dispatched to Minneapolis last month asked them to “capture all images, license plates, identifications and general information” on “agitators, protesters, etc. so we can capture it all in one consolidated form.” And the official reportedly provided such a form, called “intel collection.” Last month Tom Homan, the president’s border czar, bragged to Fox News about how he was pushing to “create a database where those people that are arrested for interference, impeding and assault — we’re going to make them famous.” (Cont.)