Donald Trump’s administration has increased efforts this summer aimed at undermining confidence in US elections, prompting voting experts to warn that the White House could seek to declare a national emergency to tighten federal control over election administration ahead of November’s midterms.
The White House and several federal agencies have published a series of documents, including disputed analyses alleging noncitizen voting and older intelligence material, as well as declassified memoranda tied to election security concerns. The releases have amplified hopes among election deniers that Trump may move to change the framework for how elections are run.
In a prime-time address in July, Trump again claimed that US elections were vulnerable to foreign manipulation and repeated his false assertion that the 2020 election— which he lost to Joe Biden—was stolen. His speech also triggered speculation from allies that a national emergency could be used to delegitimise any results in November.
Grounds For an Emergency
Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser, said in a podcast appearance on 29 July that the president would declare an emergency on national security grounds “to protect” elections. Bannon urged supporters to “block the last week of August” as a possible lead-up to such a move.
Trump’s response to a question about declaring a national security emergency for elections was notably non-committal. Asked earlier this month by Wayne Allyn Root whether he would do so, Trump did not rule it out, saying: “Stranger things have happened.”
Experts said any attempt to use an emergency declaration to override election rules would still face constitutional limits. No president has previously tried to invoke an emergency to take control of voting.
Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney and a critic of Trump, told PBS after the July speech that it appeared designed to establish a basis for declaring an emergency around the time of the elections. Cobb also argued that moves such as deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at polling stations could be intended to intimidate minority and immigrant voters and to set up attempts to seize voting equipment—an approach Trump sought in 2020 before then-attorney general Bill Barr said there was no legal basis.
Documents And Noncitizen Voting Claims
Following Trump’s July address, a White House “Government Transparency Task Force” began releasing declassified “election integrity” documents on the White House website. The group includes officials from the office of the director of national intelligence, the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
The first set of materials included intelligence memos describing alleged vulnerabilities in electronic voting machines, foreign access to state voter registration data and foreign digital manipulation strategies. Much of it has been publicly known before, and the material also reflected a US intelligence assessment that found no evidence Beijing altered the 2020 vote.
A week later, Trump and his allies seized on an announcement by Mikie Sherrill, the New Jersey governor, that 6,600 noncitizens had registered due to a software error. Less than 400 of those individuals voted, but the disclosure was used to bolster claims that large numbers of noncitizens appear on voter rolls.
On 31 July, the Department of Homeland Security issued a notice arguing that New Jersey’s administrative errors supported the need for standardised federal oversight. The taskforce also released documents related to a Michigan case in which the FBI investigated suspected fraudulent voter registrations by a get-out-the-vote organisation, with no criminal charges filed, and investigative material connected to a data scrape of voter information in Maricopa County, Arizona.
The pace of releases has accelerated. The taskforce published files tied to a Chinese intelligence investigation, including details about former Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell and Christine Fang. Separately, the US Census Bureau released a brief claiming it had identified 24,000 noncitizens voting in 2020 through a preliminary match of 128m records, without disclosing its methodology. David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation and Research said the analysis did not provide enough information and was criticised by democracy advocates.
Aria Branch, a partner at the Elias Law Group who previously led litigation blocking Trump’s election-related executive orders, said the administration was “searching for” a legal basis for an order. She argued that noncitizen voting is not a widespread problem and that the associated fear-driven narrative was unfounded. She also pointed to a July DHS analysis claiming 278,000 noncitizens are registered in federal elections, saying the agency did not explain its method, report confidence levels, or disclose that the identification tool is known to be inaccurate.
Trump Ally Networks And Legislative Pressure
Democratic members of Congress have also been preparing for possible executive actions, gaming scenarios that include AI-generated disinformation and ICE agents being sent to polling places. Progressive democracy organisations have similarly prepared for potential disruptions.
Earlier this year, questions were raised after Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s former director of national intelligence, appeared at an FBI raid in Fulton County, Georgia. Gabbard later told Congress she had been leading an investigation into foreign interference claims. She subsequently resigned on 30 June, after which Trump appointed Bill Pulte as acting replacement, a move criticised by both parties for his lack of intelligence experience. Jay Clayton later took the role permanently.
In parallel, Trump allies have pushed the Save America Act, which a White House spokesperson said would help ensure “Americans, and Americans only” decide elections. The proposal would require states to submit voter rolls for federal inspection, allow DHS to de-register people deemed ineligible, reduce mail-in voting and require documentary proof of citizenship to register, along with a narrow set of photo IDs to vote.
Asked about an executive order declaring an emergency to shape elections, the White House did not rule it out and declined to comment on hypotheticals.
Join the discussion? 
24 August 2026
-
1
-
5
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment