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.

  • aquovie@lemmy.cafe
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    20 hours 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.

    • Venia Silente@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      16 hours ago

      He doesn’t need to control every polling station. He doesn’t even need to control half. He only needs to control enough blues to as to make a point.

      And what will happen next is that either someone in the USA Luigis him, or he will Luigi the USA.

    • HCSOThrowaway@lemmy.world
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      19 hours 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?

      • aquovie@lemmy.cafe
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        18 hours ago

        Because it’s going to be far more than one person. And, if the universe obliges, Dems will be voted to control the Senate.

        Attempting to subvert that will remove any restraint because there’s nothing left that can stop this. Except a military coup, I guess, but that’s a different kind of emergency.