The U.S. Postal Service, under instruction from President Donald Trump, just published a “final rule” that would limit mail-in voting — the latest step in the administration’s effort to impermissibly turn the USPS into an election enforcement agency. Under the rule, mail ballots in states that do not share voter data with the USPS would go undelivered. Although the Supreme Court issued a procedural ruling in favor of the Trump administration on Monday, the justices did not rule on the legality of the administration’s desired mail-in voting restrictions, and court challenges continue..
The Postal Service’s move comes days after Trump refused to rule out declaring a national emergency ahead of November’s midterm elections, as some of his allies have urged. These are two of many election subversion tactics the administration may deploy or is already deploying to cement power and evade accountability at the ballot box. The Constitution, alongside federal and state laws, will almost certainly prevent the administration from successfully rigging the vote — but only if pro-democracy Americans of all political stripes show courage.
For months, Trump has hinted at a desire to nationalize or postpone elections, even suggesting the country “shouldn’t even have an election.”
In between times he has voted by mail, Trump has repeatedly called this popular form of voting inherently fraudulent. “Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating,” the president said in March. He also claims the midterms are vulnerable to being “rigged and stolen” by foreign adversaries, untrustworthy voting machines and noncitizens. These statements aren’t just false. They supply a pretext to weaponize the federal government — including the USPS — against perceived political opponents, long-serving state election officials and any others who stand in the administration’s way.
The president revealed part of his thinking earlier this month during an interview with conservative radio host Wayne Allyn Root. Root suggested that if the Senate fails to pass the SAVE America Act — a bill critics warn would cause massive voter suppression and chaos — the president could declare a national security emergency to unilaterally impose voting restrictions. “Let me just say that stranger things have happened, OK?” the president replied. “I’ll leave it at that.”
It would be easy to write off this answer as mere rhetoric. But for months, Trump has hinted at a desire to nationalize or postpone elections, going to far as to suggest that the country “shouldn’t even have an election.” He has relentlessly pressured Congress to codify his restrictions into law, claiming that Republicans “will not lose a race for 100 years.”
This administration is attempting to seize unprecedented executive power to impose an agenda most Americans reject. To protect that agenda, it is now working to subvert the will of the voters. This follows a dark, predictable sequence seen in backsliding democracies around the world: dismantle checks and balances, silence critics and control the ballot box to lock in permanent power.
Governors, secretaries of state, judges, lawmakers and voters of all ideologies must stand firm and refuse to acquiesce to any federal interference.
In total, the Trump administration is currently using 15 tactics to undermine the midterm elections. Already, Republicans (with help from the Supreme Court) have enacted unprecedented efforts at mid-decade redistricting. The administration has refused to rule out using National Guard troops to seize voting machines, or deploying immigration agents to polling sites. Even if neither comes to pass, the mere possibility of the military or federal law enforcement at polls could suppress voter turnout.
The USPS rule stems from an executive order Trump issued earlier this year, one of two that tried to restrict voting and voter registration. Dozens of federal judges have already largely blocked the orders. Undeterred, the administration is installing election deniers in key federal government positions, gutting critical cyber programs and making criminal-prosecution threats against state election officials. And with Congress returning to work soon, Trump is demanding the Senate pass the SAVE America Act or related legislation, onerous proof-of-citizenship bills that could disenfranchise more than 140 million Americans without a passport, including 69 million women whose birth certificates do not match their married names.
Together, these tactics form a coordinated strategy designed to manipulate our system of elections. Which brings us back to the threat of a manufactured national security emergency. A leaked draft executive order, crafted by far-right election deniers, outlines a plan to declare an emergency over alleged foreign interference, bar most Americans from voting by mail and force every voter to re-register in person. While Trump denied considering this in February, his interview with Root suggests the option remains on the table.
Real emergencies are unexpected. When a true crisis arrived in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was the states — not Washington — that adjusted procedures to keep elections free and fair. States did the same thing during the Civil War, two world wars and countless natural disasters.
The founders wrote the Constitution specifically to prevent presidents from becoming kings. Presidents must faithfully execute the laws passed by Congress and respect the states’ constitutional role in running elections. They cannot decree new rules to engineer their preferred political outcomes. Federal judges have repeatedly reaffirmed this principle by blocking the Trump administration’s attempts at election sabotage. But winning in court may not be the administration’s primary goal. The true objective is likely delay, disruption and intimidation — altering conditions faster than judges can restore them and scaring Americans away from the ballot box.
Expect more interference tactics as November nears and the stakes grow. But the American public must understand one vital fact: The administration cannot lawfully take control of our elections. Governors, secretaries of state, judges, lawmakers and voters of all ideologies must stand firm and refuse to acquiesce to any federal interference. The truth remains absolute: The Constitution gives presidents zero authority over elections.
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