As discussed in an August 2026 report from the Center for American Progress, history shows that authoritarian-minded leaders aim to control elections to help ensure they and their allies retain political power. The administration of President Donald Trump is carrying out such a plan, hoping to evade accountability from the American people. The administration’s plan, built on the long-discredited myth of widespread voter fraud, includes 15 interlocking tactics that would make it harder for eligible Americans to exercise their cherished right to vote, potentially stoking chaos in the process.
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The administration’s tactics include:
- Casting doubt on election integrity via disinformation to justify nationalizing elections
- Weaponizing the federal government by installing election deniers in key government positions
- Gutting key agencies and essential election security programs
- Weaponizing federal databases and demanding personal voter information from states to track or purge voters
- Issuing unconstitutional executive orders to limit voting access
- Pressuring Congress to pass legislation that would suppress eligible voters
- Curtailing voting by mail
- Preventing states from using voting equipment
- Diluting voters’ power through a mid-decade gerrymandering crisis
- Using the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to intimidate election administrators
- Seizing election-related materials and voting equipment
- Deploying the military to interfere with the election
- Deploying federal agents to interfere with the election
- Declaring a national emergency to take over or postpone elections
- Interfering with issuance of state election certificates or pressuring the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives to block seating of duly elected members
Despite the administration’s actions, the U.S. Constitution provides zero authority for presidents to control elections, even in the case of emergencies. Instead, the founders bestowed that authority to the states, with Congress as a backstop. State officials, Congress, courts, civil society, and individual citizens across the ideological spectrum must defend people’s constitutional rights and prevent democratic backsliding without regard to partisan outcomes. Free and fair elections have guided this nation through the Civil War, two world wars, a pandemic, and natural disasters. Through sustained vigilance, they will chart the nation’s course in November and beyond.
To learn more about the administration’s attempts to solidify its power via election interference, read the full report.