Fair Elections at Risk

“Wait until the midterms.” This frequent refrain heard among Americans distressed by the policies and actions of the Trump regime expresses what may be a false expectation for the 2026 elections. From Washington, DC to state capitals, Republicans are issuing orders and passing legislation that attack the heart of our democracy – the right to vote and the guarantee of free and fair elections.

Most significantly, Republicans are seeking to enact proof of citizenship laws requiring voters to show a birth certificate or passport. Already, at the federal level, President Trump has attempted to impose such a restriction with his March 25 executive order (EO) and Congressional Republicans have introduced the SAVE Act, which includes a similar restriction. And the US Dept. of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in support of a new Wyoming law that requires proof of citizenship to vote.

A federal court has deemed Trump’s EO to be unconstitutional, but the SAVE Act passed the House, though it has been successfully filibustered in the Senate. As Zachary Roth at Democracy Docket wrote earlier this month, we shouldn’t breathe easy just yet: Influential right-wing activists have proposed attaching the SAVE Act to “must-pass” legislation, such as a budget or defense-related spending bill, that could defeat Democratic attempts at a filibuster.

The Brennan Center for Justice has warned that millions of Americans, including many younger voters, voters of color, and lower-income voters, often lack access to citizenship documentation. The Center also notes that millions of married women who took their husband’s last name may also lack proper citizenship documentation reflecting the name change. A small percentage of men may encounter the same problem.

Furthermore, the National Conference of State Legislatures cautioned that the SAVE Act will be costly and time-consuming to implement. And because it lacks a phase-in period, there will be no opportunity for Congress or anyone else to set up the systems needed to ensure that all eligible voters are able to acquire the proper documentation.

It’s not just the right to vote that’s under attack. Republicans are continuing their efforts to limit the use of citizen-led ballot initiatives. Such initiatives have been used in recent years to enact policies that elected officials refused to address. One of the most notable tactics: In Florida, the Republican state government passed legislation that limits the number of signatures people can gather on petitions needed to place an initiative on the ballot. Previously, there was no cap on the number of signatures one person could gather; canvassers could gather hundreds if not thousands of signatures. That number is now capped at 25; exceeding the limit could result in criminal penalties. The new law makes it dramatically more challenging to gather the required number of signatures to place an initiative on the ballot.

Only 24 states allow citizens to pass laws directly through the ballot initiative process. In almost half the states (11 of the 24), Republicans are attempting to make it harder for citizen-led ballot initiatives to become law. Initiatives voted on and passed by citizens are being challenged in court or effectively overturned by Republican-controlled state legislatures, and those same legislatures are proposing new legislation to restrict the ability to put citizen-led initiatives on the ballot and to get them passed.

Another attack on voting rights has come from Trump’s Department of Justice. Under Trump loyalist Pam Bondi, it has decimated its Civil Rights Division, which for decades protected Americans’ civil rights, including the right to vote. Bondi has eliminated almost 70% of the division’s attorney workforce and reduced the number of attorneys in its voting section from 30 to 3. As reported by Chiraag Bains of Just Security, DOJ has withdrawn from at least 8 voting rights cases, including cases involving voting restrictions in Arizona and Georgia, voter purges in Virginia and Alabama, and redistricting in Texas and Louisiana.

Such actions come as no surprise. Project 2025, the blueprint for this presidency, encouraged them. And Democracy Forward, a coalition of hundreds of pro-democracy organizations that advocate for civil and human rights, science and medicine, immigrant protection, conservation, unions, and social justice, anticipated them. Immediately following Trump’s election in November, the organization launched a multimillion dollar effort to ensure swift legal challenges and responses to harmful and anti-democratic actions expected from the Trump regime.

Pro-democracy organizations, including those that are part of Democracy Forward, are already battling hundreds of legal firestorms ignited by Trump’s assault on the rule of law, the institutions of government, and other aspects of our democratic culture. As of July 11, Lawfare’s Litigation Tracker counted 306 active cases in its database. Using source data from the Free Law Project, the New York Times catalogued 383 legal cases as follows:

As Trump continues to “flood the zone” with an ongoing series of attacks across a full spectrum of flashpoints, it’s easy to wonder if this front line of defense will be stretched too thin to adequately defend the integrity of the vote ahead of the midterm elections.

Indeed, Lauren Egan of The Bulwark reported that some Democrats are worried the GOP is actively inviting lawsuits or filing suit themselves in order to drain Democratic Party coffers ahead of the midterm elections. This is what Democrats believe happened in North Carolina, says Egan, where they successfully defended the election of Justice Allison Riggs to the state supreme court. The battle cost Democratic funders well over $1 million and weakened the state party’s finances as it gears up for the midterms.

Seemingly playing catch-up, Democrats have recently begun to expand their legal network, starting with creation of a new legal department headed by Dan Freeman, a former civil rights attorney for the Justice Department. Even as he plans to increase the number of staff attorneys in the coming months, Freeman admits the best defense against the Trump takeover is to win each election by enough votes that the results are “outside the margin of litigation”.

With the Republicans in power intent on reducing if not eliminating that possibility, pro-democracy Democrats, Independents, and RINOs have important decisions to make regarding the strategic deployment of their resources if they hope to have a chance at fair, winnable elections in 2026.