Two months before Americans vote in midterm elections that could reshape the balance of power in Washington, local and state officials across the country are rehearsing for a crisis that once seemed unthinkable:
What if the U.S. president tries to use the power of the federal government to tilt the vote his way?
In California, officials have gamed out what would happen if Donald Trump dispatches federal agents to polling places, intimidating voters and suppressing turnout. In Michigan, state officials are advising local clerks how to respond if the federal government demands access to voting machines.
And coast to coast, election officials are bracing for legal battles over everything from ballot seizures to voter-fraud investigations.
Reuters interviewed more than 50 state and local election officials from both political parties, including a dozen secretaries of state, the top election officials in their states. Nearly all said they are adopting new strategies to prepare for political interference, misinformation, cyber attacks and even threats of violence ahead of the midterms. Their efforts span jurisdictions large and small, in areas controlled by Trump’s Republican Party as well as the opposition Democratic Party.
The preparations reflect growing alarm among state and local officials that the biggest threat to November’s elections might come not from foreign meddling or technical failures, but from the Trump administration itself, as the president seeks to expand the federal government’s role in elections, an area long overseen by states and localities.
The White House has dismissed concerns that federal actions could disrupt the midterms, arguing that the administration is enforcing election laws and safeguarding confidence in voting. It blamed Democrats for what it described as widespread voting by noncitizens, despite scant evidence to support those claims. A Reuters investigation published in July and independent studies have found that voting by noncitizens is extraordinarily rare and unlikely to affect election outcomes. “The distrust in our elections is caused by extreme Democrats,” said White House spokesperson Lauren Bis. The Trump administration has good reason for pursuing allegations of voter fraud “despite the media and Democrats denying it for decades,” she added.
Yet Trump has openly portrayed many of his election-related initiatives as ways to help Republicans win.
