Last week, the Democratic National Committee asked a federal judge in New Jersey to hold the R.N.C. in contempt for once again violating the terms of that supervision — known as a consent decree — by coordinating with and supporting the Trump campaign’s efforts to intimidate minority voters, who tend to vote Democratic, and keep them from the polls. If the R.N.C. is found liable, the decree, which is set to expire next year, will be extended for eight more years.

The original decree was issued in 1982 by the Federal District Court in New Jersey after the R.N.C. allegedly tried to intimidate registered voters in black communities by, among other things, hiring off-duty sheriffs and police officers to stand at polling places displaying their guns and armbands that said “National Ballot Security Task Force.” It barred the national committee and its “agents” from “ballot security activities” that deter qualified minority voters from voting, whether intentionally or not.