Whatever the disappointments and scandals with the candidates themselves, the Trump administration war on voters, voting and election outcomes is well underway.
It is only going to get more contentious, not less.
In the last week or so, we have been inundated with reports of rape allegations in Maine leading to withdrawal of Democrat Graham Platner as a candidate for Senate, hypocritical voter address fraud charges about Attorney General Ken Paxton as a Senate candidate in Texas, and internecine fighting among Democratic progressives in Michigan and Colorado, as well as in New York City.
Between character flaws hidden and those leapt upon by opponents, we have entered the political silly season, where personalities and advertising seem to dictate more about our national direction than voter concerns. The activity has renewed speculations about Congressional majorities that will emerge in November
But amid all of it, we have witnessed a parade of anti-voting moves by the administration. After a series of court setbacks, Team Trump is moving to threats and pressure campaigns to influence voting procedures as all as outcomes. On Thursday, for example, Trump used his newly granted Supreme Court powers over independent agencies to fire or force resignation of the three remaining members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, eliminating yet another obstacle towards seeking control over state elections.
The force of the anti-voting is based on Trump’s personal animosity and desire for revenge against whatever caused seven million more votes against him in 2020 than for Joe Biden. As we know, Trump takes losses hard, and starts blaming others, regardless of any facts, findings or investigations.
The ostensible reason this time involves immigrant votes already prohibited by law, but the subtext seems to discourage voting among minority groups in urban areas, to halt mail ballots and to intimidate voter turnout in Democratic areas.
Media Matters argues that a plot is underway in which Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, aided by recently hired right-wing journalist John Solomon, is seeking to disclose documents purporting to show significant foreign interference in past elections. Trump would use that theory as the “predicate” to declare a “national emergency” and try to seize control of the elections in November.
Widespread Skirmishes
Meanwhile, the legal front is quite active with dozens of lawsuits playing out in the courts and other Justice Department actions:
—Voter Registration Threats. Trump’s Justice Department has sent threatening letters to all state election officials warning that they could face criminal prosecution over possible noncitizen voting, escalating the administration’s pressure campaign even after courts have repeatedly rejected its effort to seize unredacted voter rolls. The letters from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division, demand that states explain within five days how they plan to comply with federal voter eligibility laws. Of course, the administration has offered no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting, already prohibited in elections for federal officials.
Despite the euphemisms, excuses and word dancing, it is voter blackmail and a clear abuse of presidential powers.
Indeed, the Trump administration has lost several recent court cases that would have required federal review of state voter rolls. Basically, judges have upheld Constitutional authorities for states to run elections, overruling the Justice Department arguments about any name-check against Homeland Security lists of undocumented migrants.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security threatened to withhold FEMA disaster emergency funds from states that do not comply with federal voter database reviews.
We can’t even agree – legally – on what federal database to states to check their voter rolls. In Washington this week, a judge said Homeland Security cannot force states to us its modified Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to certify registered voters’ citizenship status and berated government lawyers for failing to notify her about a related case in Florida where a federal judge in Florida ruled the opposite for four Republican-led states — Florida, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio.
—Challenge on Timing. The Justice Department is challenging provisions of the National Voter Registration Act’s 90-day quiet period, which generally bars systematic voter purges close to a federal election. A Justice memo claims that the 90-day cutoff “does not apply to the removal of non-citizens who were never eligible to register in the first place,” while acknowledging that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals just said otherwise.
—Trump Election Monitors. Dhillon announced the Justice Department will send federal election monitors to 15 jurisdictions in Arizona, Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Virginia, all states where Trump has claimed election issues. State officials basically have called it intimidation, but said their procedures welcome monitoring, just not interference. In particular, Justice targeted three majority-Democratic cities with large minority populations in Michigan for the state’s upcoming primaries. All the targeted areas are all considered battleground states
—Mail Ballots. In Massachusetts, federal District Judge Indira Talwani upheld a ruling that had blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing a Trump executive order not to deliver mail ballots in states that did not comply with voter registration reviews. It means the order is blocked in in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Another judge ruled that Trump cannot block absentee ballots before a full hearing can be held.
—Election Workers. In Georgia, federal District Judge William Ray II, a Trump appointee, blocked Justice Department demands for the identities and personal information of thousands of people who helped run the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County, calling the request “unreasonable.” He said the court would not enforce any subpoena.
—SAVE America. Of course, Trump is obsessed by his Save America legislation that would require voters to show identification matching birth records at all elections, eliminate mail ballots and most absentees, and generally seek to limit voting registration, timing, balloting and counting. Though it seems unable to pass the Senate, Speaker Mike Johnson now says he will attach it to must-pass bills for national defense.
The elections for Congress in November are shaping up to be a vote on the ability of an angry president to control all elections.
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