With the Save America Act dead and the gerrymandering war that Trump led to a failure, those concerned about the midterm elections are turning their attention to other ways Trump could try to interfere and keep his party in power.
The federal government has no control over elections. Elections are held at the state and local level, so any attempt by Trump to interfere in the election will have to be external.
Enjoy this free post. When you become a subscriber you get unlimited access to all our stories.
Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) spoke about the steps governors are taking to secure their elections against Trump’s interference in MS NOW.
Pritzker said:
I think we all have to recognize that we cannot capitulate. Every day you let an authoritarian have his way is a day we lose rights. And the more rights we lose, the less likely we are to ever restore our democracy, our republic, to the way it was before Donald Trump began his second term. So that’s the first part.
How are we going to protect the vote?
And I’ve talked to a number of governors. I have an organization that I co-founded with Governor Polis called Governors Safeguarding Democracy. That’s at the beginning of this administration, and we’ve been talking to other governors about how we’re going to protect the elections.
One of the ways we want to do that is make sure that we take them to court ahead of time in the first place to keep those troops, those ICE and CBP agents, away from the voting booth.
Second, we must communicate with the public about their rights. You have every right to vote, even if you see someone wearing a uniform and an automatic weapon with a mask on. Those people can’t stop you from voting, and I know it’s scary, but this moment is the moment when you have to overcome your fear and go to the polls and show America that we are going to restore our democracy. We need everyone to vote. That communication has to happen.
And finally, you know, many of us have talked about organizing people to the polls, escorting people in to make sure that they don’t feel intimidated by these people who have no right to be there. Their only target: ICE and CBP and the National Guard. Their only purpose will be to scare people away. And we don’t want that. And by the way, all we want is for eligible voters, American citizens who are eligible voters, to go in and vote.
And we just don’t want people to be afraid to vote. So the more communication we can have, the more escorts we can have. and the more we can keep the National Guard off our streets and away from these polling places. The better off we will be, but there are many strategies that will be applied. I don’t want to give away what everyone thinks about how they would do it. It will be decided individually by those governors on a state-by-state basis.
Pritzker’s video:
Each state will differ in how it protects its elections, but governors are assuming Trump will try something and are being proactive, not reactive.
Trump doesn’t have enough ICE agents and National Guard troops to launch immigration sweeps in all the swing and blue states to throw off the election. The military is already weakened by Trump’s foreign follies.
The reality is that Trump may not be physically trying to disrupt the midterm elections, but he is pulling various stunts, such as lawsuits, to make it seem like the election was stolen after he loses.
People are concerned about what Trump might do, so it’s important to understand that governors plan to protect democracy and keep the midterm elections safe.
What do you think of Pritzker’s comments? Do they reassure you? Let me know in the comments below.
