Politics
Trump administration actions raise concerns over potential emergency declaration on elections
Federal releases on voting vulnerabilities and noncitizen registration fuel speculation about executive moves ahead of the midterms.
The short version
- The Trump administration and federal task forces have accelerated the release of declassified documents and disputed analyses alleging election vulnerabilities and noncitizen voting.
- Allies like Steve Bannon have predicted an executive emergency declaration on national security grounds ahead of the midterms, which President Donald Trump declined to rule out.
- Legal and election experts state that the U.S. Constitution limits executive authority over election administration and dispute claims that noncitizen voting is widespread.
- The White House declined to address hypothetical executive actions, instead advocating for the passage of the Save America Act.
Key facts
- A White House task force and federal agencies have declassified and published materials on electronic voting vulnerabilities, intelligence memos, and disputed figures on noncitizen voting.[The Guardian]
- When asked in a media interview if he would declare a national security emergency for elections, Trump replied that 'stranger things have happened.'[The Guardian]
- The Department of Homeland Security published an analysis asserting that 278,000 noncitizens are registered to vote, while the Census Bureau claimed a preliminary match found 24,000 noncitizens voted in 2020.[The Guardian]
- Election administration experts and legal analysts criticized the federal data releases for omitting their methodologies and argued noncitizen voting is not a widespread issue.[The Guardian]
- The White House did not rule out executive action regarding the election, pointing instead to its support for the Save America Act to require proof of citizenship and federal voter roll inspections.[The Guardian]
What remains uncertain
- It is unknown whether the administration will officially attempt to declare a national emergency or issue executive orders regarding the upcoming midterm elections.[The Guardian]
- The methodologies, verification levels, and accuracy of the noncitizen voting data released by the Census Bureau and DHS remain undisclosed.[The Guardian]
- Legal experts emphasize that no president has successfully used national emergency powers to control election administration, leaving the legal viability and judicial outcome of such an action untested.[The Guardian]