Donald Trump is threatening the midterm elections as poll numbers sink. (Photo: NYI Collage Phil Roeder Corey Taratuta)
In his first term, people would say, “take Trump seriously, but not literally’’ after he said something outrageous. Then, he was surrounded by adults with judgment. No more.
Those people do not exist in his second term; he has purposely surrounded himself with only sycophants who will do his bidding without questioning it’s legality or wisdom. Now, we must listen carefully to what he says, because he will try to do it.
Listen when he says he wants the federal government to “takeover“ our elections. He has taken steps, and there are other steps he can take, to allow as he says, “Republicans… to nationalize the elections. “
To be very clear, the Executive Branch has no role in elections.
Yet, he is in the process of taking some steps.
His DOJ has demanded voter information from all states, and has sued more than 20 states to obtain this information which is highly personal and confidential. The DOJ is seeking voters’ drivers license numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and addresses.
The reason for these demands, the administration claims, is to assure compliance with two federal voting laws, the “Help America Vote Act” and the “National Voter Registration Act.” Each of these laws place compliance squarely in the hands of the states, not the federal government.
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The government wants to be able to identify voters to be removed from state rolls and the government wants compliance in 45 days. It has circulated memos to various states to try to reach agreement on this point, and it is unknown which states, if any, have agreed.
Recall that a condition of removing ICE from Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago was such an agreement by the state to provide voting information and remove what the government considers to be ineligible voters.
If the government gets the data, it should be easily used to spread election lies, or worse. It can be used to send intimidating messages, to challenge whether some voters were eligible, this being an issue for states to deal with.
In an effort to support the government’s desire to interfere in elections, it has executed search warrants in Fulton County, Ga. It’s seeking to be able to claim that it found irregularities in a county that voted for Biden in 2020 to justify interference in other jurisdictions.
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The legality of this search and the issuance of a warrant is questionable and some claim it’s a dry run for future election interference on a local level.
The House just passed a bill that would require defined identification that would establish proof of citizenship before a person can register to vote.
That sort of identification could include passports, which many citizens don’t have, birth certificates, which may make it very difficult for married women who have changed their names and other state-issued forms of identification, establishing citizenship.
Mail-in, absentee ballots and overseas ballots arriving after election day would not be counted. Millions of would-be voters may be disenfranchise by this law.
However, it also has to pass the Senate. That’s the good news; the bad news is that election laws are enforced by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ does Trump‘s bidding as if it was his private law firm, and it is hardly independent of his goals.
Many have discussed the possibility of the federal government sending troops or ICE agents to voting places.
But the deployment of armed forces, whether civil or military to democratic cities, even if they stay a distance from voting places creates an atmosphere of intimidation.
Citizens who are eligible to vote who do not pass the ‘’Kavanaugh test,” meaning they have darker than white skin and may have an accent, may fear leaving their house to vote, if their city is heavily visited by ICE.
There are ways to legally deploy troops or ICE to areas between where people park their cars and a voting place, requiring would be voters to walk-through a phalanx of armed federal officers.
But 18 USC Section 592 makes it a crime for an official to place troops or “other person in the civil… service of the United States… “ at “any place’’where an election is held.
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We know this president does not have respect for state or federal criminal laws, and this would not serve to keep these people a distance from the polls.
And, there are some who would not put it past the Administration for Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel to announce, while voting is occurring, that there is strong evidence of foreign election interference, causing them to seize voting machines even before a count has occurred.
A lot of interesting paranoia is going around, but just because a person is paranoid does not mean that election interference is not going to happen.
There was also the possibility that Trump will call up the same groups who stormed the Capital on his dog whistle on Jan. 6, and, of course, disclaim any responsibility for their presence in Democratic-state voting places in large cities.
No doubt, some of the Proud Boys and other gang members would love to take off their ICE uniforms for a day and slip into civies.
This also would be a large intimidating factor even if they stayed back from the “polling place’’ Imagine having to traverse a group of heavily armed gang members to vote.
The point is there are ways to take action that would keep Democratic voters away from the polls.
And, he ought to be getting more desperate to do something as his own numbers shrink, and it becomes more likely that Democrats will take the House and maybe even the Senate in the midterms.
Last week, Steve Bannon on his program claimed that Trump would be sending ICE to “surround“ voting locals during the midterm elections.
He said “… your damn right we’re gonna have ICE surround the polls this November.”
He is making this highly publicized threat well in advance of the November elections in an effort to suppress votes.
He will repeat it often, even though he knows that sending troops or civil law-enforcement to polling places is a criminal violation.
Would armed troops or ICE agents really be deployed? It’s a federal crime for this to happen. Does Trump care?
He’s already broken a myriad of laws. Sometimes his administration does not even abide by court orders after his actions have been successfully challenged.
But the point is, even if ICE never shows up at polling places, this rumor, this threat that Bannon is spreading may be enough to suppress votes on election day.
And, watch for people like him to broadcast lies on election day about the presence of government officers at polling places. It’s going to be about keeping Democrats from voting.
Trump has said what he wants to do, and we all better listen really well and take him seriously.
Interfering with elections, say by nationalizing them and putting them into the hands of a Republican administration is a page out of the autocratic handbook, and the Republicans in Congress are playing ball with him.
With his numbers sinking, and history evidencing that the sitting president‘s party usually does poorly in the midterms, a fair election will very likely result in a striking Democratic victory.
That is the last thing he can tolerate.