Is Trump Preparing to Take Over U.S. Elections? A Draft Order Raises Alarms
A proposed executive order would federalize election rules, override major voting laws, and invoke emergency powers ahead of the 2026 midterms.
There comes a point where you have to say, “Maybe we’re not overreacting enough.”
Over the weekend, Democracy Docket and The Washington Post reported on a draft executive order from President Trump that would dramatically change how U.S. elections are run.
The document is dated April 12, 2025. Its title sounds reasonable enough: “Establishing Security, Integrity, and Transparency for United States Elections with Protections Against Foreign Interference.”
The details are something else.
What Trump Has Been Saying
Trump has claimed that China rigged the 2020 election and that millions of illegal immigrants are voting in U.S. elections.
Neither is true.
State election officials, federal agencies under both parties, and independent researchers have looked into both claims repeatedly. Noncitizen voting is extremely rare, isolated, and prosecuted when it happens. There is no evidence it has ever changed an outcome.
That matters because this draft order is built entirely on the premise that the system is broken — at least when Trump doesn’t like the results.
What the Draft Would Do
The order declares a national emergency over a supposed foreign threat to U.S. elections. Then it rewrites the rules starting in 2026. Just in time for the midterms.
It would require:
Paper ballots, marked by hand
No drop boxes
Notarized absentee ballots
Proof of citizenship to vote
All votes counted by hand, in public
No precinct larger than 1,500 voters
It would also create a new White House office to oversee all of it — and the order states that its rules would override existing federal voting laws, including the Voting Rights Act.
The federal government, under President Trump, would decide who can vote and how the ballots are counted. Think of it as the Soviet/Russian model of “free and fair elections.”
The ICE Question
Trump allies like Steve Bannon have floated sending armed ICE agents to polling places in blue states to stop alleged illegal voting.
There’s no legal basis for that. It would trigger immediate legal challenges and voter intimidation claims.
But the damage doesn’t require follow-through. Just talking about armed federal agents at polling sites changes the atmosphere.
Claims of mass illegal voting. Federal takeovers. Emergency powers. Agents at the polls.
If Trump’s side wins, the system worked. If they lose, it was rigged.
The Constitutional Problem
The Constitution gives states control over running elections. Congress can regulate federal races.
An executive order is not Congress.
Legal scholars have questioned whether a president can impose nationwide election rules without congressional approval. The draft also claims the Supreme Court would have special jurisdiction over disputes — but the Constitution defines the Court’s jurisdiction, not the president.
Why It Matters
Maybe this is just messaging ahead of the midterms. A way to keep the base angry and engaged.
Maybe it’s a serious attempt to take permanent federal control of elections under the cover of a national security emergency.
It could easily be both. The framework gets built either way.
Frame elections as broken. Declare an emergency. Centralize control.
That’s how you end up with a system where the party in power controls the rules and the counting.
Right now, this is still a draft. But drafts tell you what someone is thinking. And it seems to me someone is thinking about a permanent one-party rule, where the ruling party can never lose an election, and at some point, there’d be no need for elections again.
You can read the full document here: Peoples-Executive-Order-2
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I have been nervous about everything I hear him say and everything I see him do with regard to elections. It has been rising over the course of time and I don't anticipate any abatement. I'm actually forming a plan to ensure I'll be allowed to vote regardless.
Thank you Rob.