Alarm bells sound over Trump's 'take over the voting' call
Source: The Guardian
Sat 7 Feb 2026 06.00 EST
Last modified on Sat 7 Feb 2026 06.02 EST
Donald Trump set off alarm bells earlier this week with comments that his administration should “take over the voting” in some states in the run-up to the 2026 midterms, which followed an unprecedented FBI raid on an election office in Georgia. Although election experts say it’s clear the president doesn’t have authority over elections, they warn the president’s corrosive rhetoric leaves little doubt about his intent.
For months, the Trump administration has stoked doubts about the integrity of American elections largely through lawsuits designed to create the impression states aren’t doing enough to keep ineligible voters off the rolls. That effort escalated significantly last week when the FBI raided the election office in Fulton county, Georgia and seized ballots, along with other materials, related to the 2020 election. Shortly after the raid, Trump escalated his attack even further, saying the federal government should take over elections.
“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’” he said during a recent interview with Dan Bongino, the former deputy FBI director who has returned to hosting a podcast. “We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many – 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” Democracy experts believe there is no longer any doubt about Trump’s desire to interfere with this fall’s elections.
“We should not be waiting for the next shoe to drop,” said Wendy Weiser, vice-president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice. “There is a full-blown effort to seize control of some of the mechanisms of our elections and to lay the foundation for interfering in upcoming elections.” The president has no power over federal elections, and the US constitution is not ambiguous on the matter. Article I, section 4 of the document gives states the power to run elections. Congress, the constitution says, can pass nationwide rules for federal elections.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/07/trump-interference-voting-midterms
