A draft emergency executive order to declare a national emergency to allow President Donald Trump to take unprecedented control over voting is being circulated by anti-voting activists who said they are in coordination with the White House.

Voting rights experts, democracy advocates, and at least one state election chief said Trump doesn’t have the authority to claim such powers — and any attempt would be blatantly unconstitutional.

The draft order — which is said to be based on a conspiracy theory that China interfered with the 2020 election — would allow Trump to unilaterally ban mail-in ballots and voting machines on the basis that they are susceptible to foreign interference.

The order comes from MAGA activists who have been coordinating with the White House. One of the advocates for the order is Peter Ticktin, the attorney for Tina Peters, the former GOP Colorado county clerk who is currently serving a nine-year state prison sentence for her role in a 2021 voting system breach, in an attempt to find voter fraud based on election conspiracies.

The Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution explicitly gives states — not the president — sole authority over elections.

  • AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    And who the fuck is going to stop him? He’s been doing shit that’s unconstitutional this whole time. He’s going to rig the election and have a third term, and all our politicians will do is write strongly worded letters.

    • aquovie@lemmy.cafe
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      1 hour ago

      If it makes you feel any better, an EO like that needs people on the ground to enforce it. Even his thug army, ICE, doesn’t have the man power to control every polling station.

      What will happen is that duly elected representatives and senators will show up and they’ll refuse to seat them. At that point, there’s nothing left of a real government and shit will really pop off.

      • HCSOThrowaway@lemmy.world
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        48 minutes ago

        Nothing popped off for the time they didn’t swear in Adelita Grijalva. What makes you think it will if that happens for someone else?

    • TerdFerguson@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Until people like you are thinking “It’s gonna have to be me” then the situation will not likely improve.

      • AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        That wasnt very specific. :(

        Do you mean “it’s gonna have to be me” like that guy who tried to sneak into Mara a Lago and was shot by the secret service? Or maybe that guy who missed his shot?

        Or do you mean that me specifically is going to have to rally people in my neighborhood, then my city, my state, and then most of the country to physically resist and arrest our leaders and have them stand trial for their crimes while having the bravery to leave your wife and kids behind to potentially die trying seems a little beyond my scope to be honest.

        • TerdFerguson@lemmy.world
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          1 hour ago

          Well, I think you’re saying those are things that you can’t do. And thats fine, but a lot if poeple need to take ownership of what they can do and figure out how to cooperate appropriately to get some things done.

          New leaders need to emerge thats true, but they will need support as well in various ways.

          But all those people will all have to take ownership for making this stop and figure out how to fight back.

          I get safety/security is a concern, but things are in a circumstance now where you will probably get fucked either way.

          As long as everyone keeps waiting for someone else to do something real, youre all screwed.

        • orioler25@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          Adolf Schmitler doesn’t have the stomach for bold collective action, who would’a guessed.