The anti-voter agenda crystallizes ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

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Will voters have the final say in 2026?

In recent years, despite the pandemic, violence, and intense pressure, American elections were secure and their results were reported accurately. Election officials worked together across party lines. The system held.

This year, however, a new threat to free and fair elections has emerged: the federal government itself.

It’s now clear that the Trump administration has launched a campaign to undermine American elections. An important new Brennan Center analysis

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uses the facts to connect the dots. All of this is unprecedented. It’s often illegal. It’s alarming. And it has begun to unfold in plain sight.

This strategy has been less visible than other, more dramatic power grabs — the unilateral imposition of tariffs, the deployment of the military into American cities, and more. But as my colleague Jasleen Singh writes, “A clear pattern suggests a growing effort. As the 2026 midterms approach, that effort will likely gather momentum.”

Some of this is well known, and some of it has unfolded quietly.

Trump has gutted

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the agency that provides states with election security support and purged its experts, the very people on whom states have relied for help.

An executive order tried to require Americans to produce a passport or the equivalent to register to vote in federal elections — documents that millions of citizens just don’t have. (A federal court has blocked

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that bad idea, in a suit brought by the Brennan Center and others.)

The administration has demanded that states provide access to voter rolls with personal information to DOGE so it can find fraud. (What could possibly go wrong?!) Already, according to the Associated Press, the Justice Department has sought access to voter information in 19 states

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.

There’s even an attempt to withdraw federal approval for the voting machines used across the country.

And, in recent days, the White House has supported Republicans in the Texas State Legislature in their effort to adopt one of the most gerrymandered congressional maps in the nation’s history — an even more severe gerrymander than the party had drawn at the start of the decade. It would be an egregious case of politicians choosing their voters rather than the other way around.

Expect more to come. The president recently visited the Justice Department, where he declared that the people behind the “crooked” 2020 election “should go to jail.” Prosecution task forces have been established in Washington, DC, and New Jersey. These federal officials are looking to bring charges

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against state election officials. The president already issued executive orders targeting a former high-level government official and others for their work to protect elections and voting rights.

In 2020, Trump’s attempt to overturn the election was haphazard and chaotic. It was ultimately constrained by federal and state officials. His own attorney general dismissed claims of fraud with a barnyard epithet. Now, the executive branch has been weaponized. Election deniers hold top Justice Department positions. The new civil rights chief, Harmeet Dhillon, declared

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that she is “turning the train around and driving in the opposite direction.”

All this adds up to more than mere politics, more than the usual tussles over rules and scrambling for momentary advantage. For the federal government to intervene this way — for the president to try to personally grab power over our election system so blatantly — is unprecedented. And it is emphatically counter to the law.

Presidents do not run elections. The Constitution gives states the responsibility to run federal elections. Congress can set national standards. But the president has little if any proper role.

It’s a personal drive by a peevish second-term president to take control of important parts of the election system, just months before a critical midterm election.

Why do all this? Threats, noise, investigations, and false claims of fraud can spread doubt and discredit valid results. The clamor will make it harder for brave election officials and citizen volunteers to resist presidential pressure to change results.

In 2020, 2022, and 2024, American elections withstood great pressure. They can do so again, but that will take vigilance, courage, and ferocious determination to defend democracy. This is the substance of true patriotism.

State election officials must continue to stand up for voters. At the Brennan Center, we are working to support these quiet heroes of our system. We are arming them with information, for example, about which data requests

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are improper.

Courts, too, must act — and some already have.

Ultimately, it will be up to voters. It’s harder to rig an election when people are watching — and shouting. High turnout can overwhelm chicanery.

So stay tuned. This great fight will become an increasingly important story until next November, and no doubt beyond. All this goes well beyond typical partisan jostling. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that government is legitimate only when it rests on “the consent of the governed.” The Brennan Center will do our part to defend voters and protect the system.





A Freedom Rider Looks Back

The Voting Rights Act turns 60 this week. But after years of damaging Supreme Court decisions, its protections have been left in tatters. As part of the civil rights movement that spurred the law’s passage, Black and white Freedom Riders traveled together on public transportation in defiance of segregation in the South. Joan Browning is one of them, and in an illuminating new interview, she reflects on her experiences in the 1960s and shares her thoughts on what the next chapter in the fight for voting rights might look like. Read more

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Gerrymandering Texas Even More

Texas lawmakers are pushing to redraw the state’s congressional map to create five additional GOP seats ahead of next year’s midterm elections — potentially enough to help the party keep control of the House. “Republicans are doing everything possible to help politicians pick their voters rather than the other way around, putting requests from Washington, DC, over the rights of Texans,” Michael Li writes in the Houston Chronicle. He outlines the political and legal risks of this brazen mid-decade gerrymandering effort and warns that blue and red states across the country could soon follow Texas’s lead. Read more

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Inside the Postelection Fundraising Spree

MAGA Inc., the main super PAC supporting President Trump, has raised nearly $200 million between the election and the end of June — an unprecedented haul this early into a presidential term, made more striking because Trump cannot seek a third term. A closer look at the million-dollar donors behind the group reveals how “wealthy donors appear to be using super PAC contributions to curry favor with the Trump administration,” Ian Vandewalker writes. Read more

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New Policy Could Reshape AI

A recent executive order dictating the kinds of artificial intelligence the government can buy requires agencies to use only models that are neutral and nonpartisan, but in reality, the policy would pressure technology companies to conform to the administration’s ideology. “The order will end up promoting censorship and degrading access to information online. It will also make AI less reliable and trustworthy,” Amos Toh argues in a new piece that examines the content and consequences of the AI policy. Read more

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Coming Up

VIRTUAL EVENT: The Past, Present, and Future of the Voting Rights Act

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Tuesday, August 19, 3–4 p.m. ET



Since its passage in 1965, the Voting Rights Act — which opened opportunities for Black and brown communities to participate in the American political system on an equal basis — has faced ongoing attacks. The Supreme Court has weakened its protections, most notably in the 2013 case Shelby County v. Holder. And just this summer, a federal appeals court ruled against the ability of voters in seven states to use the Voting Rights Act to challenge racially discriminatory voting practices — although the Supreme Court has put that decision on hold for now.



Join us for a virtual discussion with experts, advocates, and legislators, moderated by Natalie Tennant, Kanawha County commissioner and former West Virginia secretary of state. They will explore the history of the Voting Rights Act, its impact on voters today, and what it will take to ensure fair representation for all. RSVP today

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News

Mike German on Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics // THE EXCERPT

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Elizabeth Goitein on the blurred line between military and law enforcement // THE INTERCEPT

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Ames Grawert on myths about cash bail and crime rates // ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Katherine Yon Ebright on the revival of the Alien Enemies Act // THE GUARDIAN

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