Trump’s Plot to Control Elections; the GOP’s Nationwide Gerrymander; DOJ’s Hunt for Voter Fraud
Since the start of the year, Democracy Docket has expanded its newsroom to keep up with the unprecedented war on democracy being waged under the second Trump administration. Every Sunday, starting today, I’ll be highlighting some of the most important recent work by our reporters and contributors that you may have missed.
Zachary Roth
Democracy Docket Managing Editor
Let’s dive right into the darkness: As Jim Saksa reported for us last week, there’s increasing concern among Democrats and election experts that Trump could use the military or law enforcement to thwart fair elections in 2026 and 2028 — something he’s mused about doing before. One policy expert told Jim he worries that Virginia’s gubernatorial election, for which voting starts next month, could offer a dress rehearsal for Trump’s plans.
New comments from perhaps the most dangerous and well-connected anti-voting advocate in the country, which Matt Cohen shone a light on this week, should add to those concerns. Cleta Mitchell, the Trump ally who played a key role in his failed bid to overturn the 2020 election, told a right-wing podcast host that she thinks Trump will declare our “porous” voting system a threat to national sovereignty, and use that as a justification to “exercise some emergency powers to protect federal elections going forward.”
Now, Matt tracks the far-right anti-voting world as closely as any reporter out there. But Mitchell’s alarming comments were made on a podcast anyone can listen to. We’re always proud to bring you voting and democracy news you can’t find anywhere else. But it’s troubling that key MAGA figures — and Mitchell isn’t the only one — are openly saying they plan to cancel fair elections, and most major media outlets don’t seem interested.
“How is it that only Democracy Docket is covering this unfolding authoritarian takeover?” our founder Marc Elias asked this week.
Of course, the more immediate scheme that Trump and the GOP are using to rig 2026 is their national gerrymandering plot. In August, Jen Rice, who’s well-sourced in the Texas legislature thanks to her time at the Houston Chronicle, covered every twist and turn in the effort by Lone Star State Republicans to grab five more seats for their party thru a mid-decade redistricting. Then last week, Jen unearthed past racist comments about immigrants made by a state senator who played a key role in ramming the GOP’s skewed map thru. On Tuesday, after our reporting went viral online, the lawmaker offered an apology on the Senate floor.
And since the Republican gerrymandering campaign isn’t stopping with Texas, neither is Jen. Next up for her: the Show Me State, where Republicans are trying to squeeze out another House seat at the expense of Kansas City’s Black voters…
Finally, Matt also tackled a question that’s been worrying election experts: Why does the Trump administration want states’ voter registration data? Among the most plausible — and troubling — of the potential answers voiced by secretaries of state and leading election administration experts he spoke to: They want to use the data selectively to bolster their false narrative about rampant illegal voting.
“I think really what they’re trying to do is find the data — even though it doesn’t exist — to justify their conspiracy theories,” Oregon’s secretary of state told Matt.
And just in case we haven’t given you enough reasons to get angry…there’s also a dangerous new legal assault on the Voting Rights Act — watch for our coverage next week.