The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on 9 July unanimously overturned the civil-rights conviction of conservative influencer Douglass Mackey, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove he conspired with anyone to suppress votes during the 2016 presidential race. The three-judge panel—Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston and Circuit Judges Reena Raggi and Beth Robinson—ordered the trial court to enter a judgment of acquittal and dismiss the case. Mackey, who posted under the alias "Ricky Vaughn," was found guilty in March 2023 of violating 18 U.S.C. § 241 after sharing memes that falsely told Hillary Clinton supporters they could cast their ballots by texting “Hillary” to a designated number. He was sentenced to seven months in prison, but remained free during the appeal. Writing for the court, Livingston said “the mere fact that Mackey posted the memes, even assuming he intended to injure others in the exercise of their right to vote, is not enough” to establish a criminal conspiracy. The panel found no evidence that Mackey viewed or joined private online chats that prosecutors cited as proof of coordination, and noted that the government produced no voter who was actually misled. The Justice Department declined immediate comment. The ruling eliminates one of the department’s highest-profile election-misinformation prosecutions and is likely to shape future cases at the intersection of political speech and voter-protection laws.