Prevent Disruption of November’s Midterm Elections

Every American should be concerned about the upcoming midterm election based on the current Administration’s actions and rhetoric. President Trump has repeatedly suggested that elections should be nationalized. This position is based on his specious claims of voter fraud that have been completely and repeatedly debunked. However, Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution grants to states the authority to regulate the time, place and manner of elections for U.S. Senators and Representatives, subject to laws passed by Congress. And yet, in a social media post, the President made clear that he has no regard for the Constitutional role of states in elections. He said that “the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them.” There is inherent danger in a centralized national election run by a single, partisan official with an obvious interest in the outcome of that election.

The President knows what is at stake in the midterm elections. He recognizes that he will face a significantly harder time advancing his agenda on most issues if Republicans lose Congress. Executive orders carry far less weight if they are not funded and supported by Congress. A good example is the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on tariffs, the Administration’s central economic policy. In Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump, the Supreme Court held that tariffs are a tax and the power to impose taxes rests solely with Congress and not the President. Under our system of Government each branch was designed to be a check and balance on the other two branches. If Democrats win a majority in Congress, the President either has to work with politicians he has repeatedly demonized or attempt to govern them through edict and force. He would loath the former and likely demand the latter.

Ronald Reagan once said, “The right to vote is the crown jewel of American liberties, and we will not see its luster diminished.” Facing potentially emasculating loss of power, this President has already taken steps to diminish Americans’ right to vote. First, he issued an Executive Order requiring state and local officials to impose stricter identification requirements on voters. Most of that order has been blocked by the Courts, but the Washington Post reports that the President is considering a new executive order that would give him the power to declare a national emergency and take over the elections. Second, the FBI seized voting records from 2020 in Fulton County, Georgia. Some fear that this could be a test of federal law enforcement’s ability to seize voting records and machine while votes are still being counted. Third, there are members of the administration who have publicly stated that ICE agents will be present at select voting sites during the midterm elections. Presumably those agents will be armed, masked and in body armor – what some warn will be designed to intimidate legal citizens from voting rather than capturing undocumented workers.

The Administration has also championed the SAVE Act (the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act), which will add significant voter identification requirements, echoing Jim Crow laws that disenfranchised Black American citizens from voting. The SAVE Act is a solution in search of an actual problem. The President continues to falsely claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent and led to his loss of the presidency. Each time those claims were brought to a court of law, they were found to either be meritless or so insignificant as to have had no effect on the outcome of the election. The conservative Heritage Foundation found only 36 instances of voter fraud among more than 64 million votes in Georgia from 1982-2024. That number is likely higher as the Georgia Secretary of State reported in September of 2020 that the State Election Board referred 35 cases for criminal prosecution to the Attorney General or local district attorneys. Of those 35 cases 4 were convicted felons and only 4 were non-citizens.

The Administration’s claims of massive voter fraud are not supported by the facts. Elections in Georgia have been overseen by Republican secretaries of state for decades. There are already significant voter identification and protections in place. The facts prove that voting was fair in Georgia in 2016, 2020, and 2024. For our democracy to work people need to be confident that their vote and voice count. And yet, the President’s calculated messaging serves to further erode public confidence in elections and the government as a whole.

The Constitution and the law are clear. Elections cannot be nationalized. The President’s misinformation about election fraud and attempts to nationalize elections are a ploy to further consolidate power, disenfranchise millions of minorities and working-class voters, and further erode the rule of law.

Should Americans be concerned about the midterm elections? If the plain language of the Constitution means anything; if Americans are concerned that their fellow citizens will not be able to vote because of new unnecessary restrictions; or if people are simply tired of being misled by the Administration that has a vested interest in controlling elections; then yes, Americans ought to be concerned about the midterm elections.