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EXPERT EXPLAINS THE REAL DANGER BEHIND TRUMP’S MIDTERM ‘NATIONAL
EMERGENCY’ THREAT  
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Brad Reed
August 12, 2026
Common Dreams
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_ Trump is “trying to scare people into thinking he has more power
than he has,” said UCLA law professor Rick Hasen. _

Voters cast their ballots at South Oldham Middle School on May 19,
2026 in Crestwood, Kentucky., (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

 

President Donald Trump [[link removed]]
raised
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eyebrows on Tuesday when he didn’t rule out declaring a “national
security emergency for elections” ahead of the 2026 midterms that
would let him restrict the use of mail-in ballots and require voters
to provide proof of citizenship.

Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA and an expert in election law,
told
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The New Republic in an interview published Wednesday that simply
declaring a national emergency related to election security wouldn’t
override states’ voting laws.

“The United States [[link removed]]
Constitution does not give the president power over elections,”
Hasen explained. “We have a decentralized election system. Most of
our election rules come from states, from state legislatures passing
statutes.”

Even though Trump cannot legally seize control of the country’s
elections systems, Hasen said, his “national emergency”
declaration could be used as a tool to discredit Democratic victories
in the midterms and also to more generally intimidate Democratic
voters.

“He’s trying to scare people into thinking he has more power than
he has,” Hasen said. “That itself makes him powerful, because
people are deterred by him. And maybe it deters people from showing up
to vote in elections... We should not be complacent at all, even if
Trump doesn’t have the power to actually do some of the stuff he’s
threatened.”

Hasen also speculated that Trump’s executive order instructing the
United States Postal Service to not deliver mail-in ballots to states
that have not shared their voter data with the White House
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intimidation operation.

“So everybody’s confidence in the elections goes down,” Hasen
said. “And it’s like, ‘Why mail back my ballot if the post
office isn’t going to deliver it? Why show up at the polling place
if there’s going to be armed security there?’ All of these things
are, I think, scare tactics. And we shouldn’t give Trump the
power—we shouldn’t give Trump room in our heads to panic over
whether or not we’re going to have free and fair elections.”

In an analysis
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published Wednesday, progressive commentator Thom Hartmann
[[link removed]] described Trump as a
“cornered rat” who will attempt any trick to maintain Republican
majorities in Congress.

“It’s going to be up to us and the individual states to make sure
our voices are heard and our votes are properly counted,” Hartmann
wrote. “We should be thinking of this as an election continuity
exercise that may not be necessary but, like wearing a seatbelt, could
be essential if Trump tries to repeat 2020 in some way.”

Hartmann also listed a number of recommendations for Democrats to
combat Trump’s election subversion attempts, including educating
voters on the constitutional limits of the president’s powers, being
prepared to arrest any federal immigration
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who appear at polling locations, and encouraging early voting.

“For over a decade now, close races immediately produce Republican
claims of fraud,” Hartmann added. “Lawyers, election officials,
and communications systems must be fully prepared to deal with lies
and propaganda long before November.”

_Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams._

* 2026 Midterms
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* Donald Trump
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* New Threats
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