What’s All This I Hear About Stolen Mid-Term Elections?

The Trump White House has been signaling for months that it may, in some way, compromise the election. With the President’s approval rating hovering around 33%, more savvy members of the administration can recognize a political squall line when they see it. As prices for seemingly everything rise because of the Iran War and the tariff fiasco, administration officials have good reason to take cover. The American people are tired of being drenched in poor decision-making. So, in true Trumpian fashion, election interference seems like the most efficient way to forestall a Blue Wave. But is it?

The election process in the United States is multi-layered and complex. Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives states direct responsibility for elections, reserves oversight powers for Congress alone, and says nothing about the Executive Branch.

The Trump administration has tried several methods to suppress the vote. The SAVE Act is currently dying in Congress. It would require, in part, that the name on all voters’ driver’s licenses match the name on their birth certificate. Should it pass, it threatens the suffrage of all married women who took their husband’s last name. (You can call Tom McClintock’s office, 202-225-2511 or 209-550-6910, to express your displeasure.)

Trump also asked Texas to redraw its voting maps to eliminate historically Democratic congressional districts. California countered by passing Proposition 50, which allowed the state legislature to implement Democrat-friendly congressional districts. Tit for tat, it retained the balance.

The Roberts Supreme Court has abetted Trump’s efforts by overturning the Voting Rights Act of 1964. This led to a spate of redistricting in some Southeast states. However, during this year’s primaries, these efforts have been less successful than expected, and some are calling the new districts “dummymandered.”

The President also tried to alter mail-in voting by using the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) as a vehicle. He demanded that all states submit their voter rolls to the USPS for accuracy checks. Twenty-nine states balked and sued. The administration counter sued. There were a couple of months of legal Wimbledon back and forth until ultimately the Supreme Court, in a seven-two decision, ruled that neither the Executive nor the USPS had jurisdiction over the election process. So, even though the president has found reliable friends in the Roberts Court and in both bodies of the Republican-held Congress, he has failed to restrict voting. 

The explanation is simple: Each state runs its own elections under its own laws, rules, and regulations across more than 3,000 counties nationwide, each administering its own election process. Ballots include local, state, and national races, as well as propositions and measures. For the federal government to hijack the elections, every county election official in every state would have to agree and comply with the interference. It is not going to happen.

The country has more than 175,000 voter precincts, along with voting methods such as mail-in and absentee ballots. Even though the administration has threatened to “send in troops” to monitor the election, the federal government can’t summon a force to provide a menacing police presence at all these voting sites.

Some counties mailed ballots as early as the first week in September. It is a huge effort with races and measures at every level of government. The administration doesn’t have time to carry out such a gargantuan effort, and local communities would resist it.

No American wants to compromise our basic right to vote. Trump knows this. His attacks are designed to spread chaos, confusion, and fear among us. Let’s disappoint him “bigly” and remember the words of a far greater American president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, spoken in a previous time of danger to our nation: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

SOURCES

1. Loreben Tuquero, “Fact-checking Mullin’s Claims,”  PBS News, July 25, 2026.
2. “ArtI.S4.C1.1 Historical Background on Elections Clause,”Constitution Annotated, Library of Congress. 
3. Jessica Huseman, “Why Trump Can’t Cancel the 2026 Midterms,” Votebeat, January 26, 2026.
4. “Frequently asked questions about the 2026 midterm elections,” Protect Democracy, July 14, 2026.
5. Michael Sozan and Ben Olinsky, “The Trump Administration is Interfering,” Center for American Progress, August 12, 2026.
6. Lexi Kennard, “U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Postal Service From Restricting Mail Ballots,”  Brennan Center for Justice, September 18, 2026.
7. “Can The President Cancel an Election? No,”  U.S. Vote Foundation.
8. Sean Morales-Doyle, “Trump says he wants to Cancel Elections,” Brennan Center for Justice, May 15, 2026.
9. Nate Silver and Eli McKown-Dawson, “How Popular is Donald Trump?” Silver Bulletin, updated October 22, 2026.

Video Podcasts:

1. Katie Phang, “Trump Spirals as SCOTUS drops ruling,” YouTube, August 25, 2026.
2. Brian Tyler Cohen, “Marc Elias explains Supreme Court mail ballot ruling,” Brian Ryler Choen News, YouTube, August 24, 2026.
3. Marc Elias, “Trump DOJ Threatens to PROSECUTE Election Officials for Counting Votes,” Democracy Docket, October 17, 2026.
4. Jamelle Bouie, “Donald Trump’s presidency is a conspiracy against the Constitution,”  Takes by Jamelle Bouie, YouTube, August 29, 2026. 
5. Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin, “You’re Being Lied To About the 2026 Midterms. Here’s What You Need to Know,” Resistance Live, YouTube, May 21, 2026.