Trump MAGA Allies Push Plan to Let Him Take Over U.S. Elections - La Voce di New York

A group of pro-Donald Trump activists in contact with the White House circulated a draft executive order on Thursday to declare a national emergency and allow the president to assume unprecedented control over voting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The Initiative

A draft executive order circulating among MAGA activists would grant former president Donald Trump sweeping authority to ban mail-in ballots and voting machines on the grounds that they are “vulnerable to foreign interference.” The proposal appears rooted in a conspiracy theory alleging that China meddled in the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Although Trump has repeatedly claimed the election was stolen, U.S. intelligence agencies have consistently found no evidence of irregularities, emphasizing that Beijing “considered, but did not implement, influence efforts” to change the election’s outcome.

The document, shared in recent hours by members of the Make America’s Greatest Again group, counts among its supporters attorney Peter Ticktin — known for representing Tina Peters, a former Republican county clerk in Colorado now serving a nine-year sentence for a 2021 election system breach.

Voting rights experts, democracy advocates, and at least one state election official have warned that any White House effort to control the midterms would be blatantly unconstitutional. The Constitution grants states — not the president — exclusive authority to conduct elections.

Ticktin defended the draft by arguing that a president “may invoke emergency powers in response to an election emergency involving foreign interference,” citing the National Emergencies Act (NEA) and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

“The Constitution is absolutely clear,” said Michael McNulty, political director of the pro-democracy group Issue One. “The president has no legal authority to unilaterally change election rules. Any attempt to do so would be unconstitutional and likely struck down by the courts.”

McNulty added that “the administration is reportedly planning to use false claims of Chinese interference in 2020 to justify the draft order,” despite the lack of “credible evidence” in intelligence reports.

In recent weeks, Trump has vowed to “do everything in [his] power” to prevent Democrats from winning. During his State of the Union address this week, he declared, “The only way Democrats can get elected is to cheat. And we’re going to stop it.”

While the draft taps into Trump’s history of invoking emergency powers—like border wall funding—the proposal faces steep odds due to the Constitution’s explicit grant of election authority to states and recent Supreme Court limits on such executive overreach. Legal experts predict swift court injunctions, though MAGA momentum could force a symbolic fight through midterms.