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Assaults on democracy seem to be all around us lately. City commissioners in Miami, Florida, just gave themselves an extra year in office without voters’ permission. The governor of Missouri signed a bill that rolls back voter-approved minimum wage and sick leave. Arkansas just passed six laws that make it nearly impossible for voters to put issues on the ballot.
Voting itself is also under threat. After four years of relatively safe elections, concerns are growing that the 2026 and 2028 elections will be anything but fair. In Texas, a special session of the state legislature was called, in the wake of the devastating July 4 floods no less, to redraw the state’s congressional map—five years early—at Donald Trump’s urging.
Even more disturbing, the Justice Department has hit states with requests for voter rolls and election data—and there’s a possibility that beleaguered election officials could face criminal charges merely for doing their jobs. The Trump Administration has also defied a court order by refusing to say how federal agencies may be implementing Trump’s anti-voting executive order. “President Trump and his allies are trying to lay the groundwork to interfere with a free and fair election in 2026,” says Samantha Tarazi, CEO of the nonpartisan Voting Rights Lab.
If all that weren’t enough, there’s another rapidly evolving danger to democracy: artificial intelligence (AI). Trump is perhaps the worst possible person to be president at a time like this, which is to say he is the perfect AI president. It allows him to do exactly what he is so good at—cast doubt on what’s true and what isn’t. AI creates a general sense of mistrust via deepfake audio and video. If it’s so incredibly realistic, how can we believe anything we see or hear anymore?
With Trump in the White House, Republicans holding the majority in the House and Senate, and conservatives dominating the Supreme Court, the last six months have witnessed sweeping and controversial executive actions, legislation, and court rulings. The 2026 midterm elections will be critical for determining the fate of U.S. democracy. This makes understanding the role that AI will play in it more pressing than ever. Read on for more on the potential threats, weaknesses, and responses brought on by the emergence of AI and its potential impact on the midterms and beyond.
Only disinformation is completely free.
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