Protecting The Right To Vote

On August 18, I wrote to you about Trump’s “Truth”—his social media post—about voting. It was a screed that pulled in all of the debunked threads he’s used over time to support his completely unsubstantiated claim about massive fraud in American elections. In his post, he complained about mail-in ballots, voting machines, and cheating Democrats. He moved on to open borders and men playing women’s sports, neither of which has anything to do with elections, but he was on a roll at that point.

Midway through, he came out with something new and truly alarming. He wrote that “the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY.”

The states aren’t agents of the federal government when it comes to holding elections. The Elections Clause of the Constitution, Article I, Section 4, Clause 1, gives them control over the times, places, and manner of holding elections, subject only to congressional, not presidential, action. But Trump, who has been on a power grab ever since he took the oath of office, wants to claim this real estate for himself, too. And there is news today confirming that he is firmly on that path.

The New York Times reported that “The Justice Department is compiling the largest set of national voter roll data it has ever collected, buttressing an effort by President Trump and his supporters to try to prove long-running, unsubstantiated claims that droves of undocumented immigrants have voted illegally, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Trump operated during the last election and continues to operate in a vacuum where he fails to acknowledge that it’s already a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in a presidential election, prohibited by Title 18 of the U.S. Code, Section 611. In January 2024 he began floating that idea that “illegal aliens” were voting in large numbers, an idea that defies logic—few people would endure the trauma of entering this country without legal status, desperate to start a new life, only to throw it away by trying to vote in a situation where they would be sure to be found out and have no chance of impacting the outcome of the election. But for Trump, this isn’t about logic. It’s about riling up the base. And now, it’s about something more.

Republicans have long dreamed of compiling national data. It can be used to try and intimidate voters or persuade them not to vote. They can be targeted with information, plans that are even more frightening in the era of AI. But most of all, it’s the idea of “caging,” of using the information to try and disqualify voters. We know how that works with Trump. It doesn’t matter if there’s any truth to his allegations. As he did with false claims of fraud in 2020 or claims in the run-up to 2024 (they suspiciously went away as soon as he won) about noncitizens voting, prepare yourself for claims in 2026 about all sorts of ineligible people voting. And worst of all, it’s the Justice Department putting that information together. Not rogue political operatives.

The work is being done in two DOJ components, the Civil Rights Division, which used to protect voters’ rights, and the Criminal Division, which used to prosecute people who violated them. The Justice Department has requested, and will presumably receive, voter data from at least 16 Republican-controlled states, including Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. It also sent demands for data to at least 17 mostly Democrat-controlled or swing states, including Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin, and New York. We spoke with Maine’s Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, the week she received one and told the White House to “go jump in the Gulf of Maine.”

What kind of information about you is the administration trying to get? According to the Times, they want “personally identifiable information on voters like driver’s license numbers or Social Security numbers.” In a lawsuit in South Carolina, a judge has blocked the release, at least for now. That kind of information could let Republicans make untrue claims based on partial or misinterpreted information about where a voter’s primary residence is, for instance, and use that to drive half-baked claims of voter fraud. It’s dangerous because it would have the imprimatur of the Justice Department, something Trump tried but failed to get for his fake election fraud claims in 2020.

The Times reported that “The administration plans to compare that voter data to a different database, maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, to see how many registered voters on the state lists match up with noncitizens listed by immigration agents, according to people familiar with the matter.” Of course, people can become citizens, and as we know from 2024, these records aren’t always accurate, and the data doesn’t always add up. For instance, people with the same name can be falsely accused of fraud when they’re eligible to vote. States are highly effective at educating election personnel in how to ensure a voter who attempts to register is, in fact, an eligible citizen and declining to register anyone who isn’t eligible. Except in rare instances, these people don’t make it on the voter rolls, let alone into a polling place. But again, the truth is no bar to Trump, the man who, on repeated occasions, has asked people to just open an investigation, so that he can take it from there. This is more of the same.

This is not your mama’s Justice Department—nor is it recognizable as mine anymore. It has tried to get access, unsuccessfully, at least for now, to Missouri voting machines and openly discussed prosecuting state officials, a clear effort to intimidate them and discourage them from holding free and fair elections.

These efforts by the Trump administration echo Republican claims that they were worried about election integrity while they were actually trying to suppress Black and Brown voters. That’s the reason we had a Voting Rights Act in 1965, and some parts of the country were required to submit changes to elections for preclearance to the Justice Department before they could go into effect. Republicans made claims about voter fraud, but there was never evidence of it. It was about voter suppression. And it still is.

There are stark reminders of that today.

In Michigan, a prosecution brought against fake Trump electors in the 2020 election was dismissed by a state court judge. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued a statement in response:

“In 2020, Michigan was ground zero for a nationally organized, concerted effort to overturn a legitimate presidential election. The attempt to subvert the results of a free and fair election is an affront to our Constitution and a betrayal of American values.

Since these individuals signed these false certificates more than four years ago, we have worked with lawmakers to pass additional laws and protections around the certification process. I am grateful to those who pursued justice, and who sought accountability in the name of our democracy.

I’m committed to ensuring Michigan elections remain safe, secure, and the results reflect the will of the people – regardless of the outcome.

But today’s decision is also a poignant reminder that it’s up to all of us to ensure democracy, our right to vote and to hold our elected officials accountable, prevails in Michigan and beyond. I remain dedicated to that work, and am grateful to every Michigander who shares that commitment.”

And earlier this week, Republican legislators in the Missouri House passed a redistricting plan, caving to Trump’s demand that they pervert their elections and subvert the rights of their voters to deliver another safe Republican seat in Congress. The bill is expected to clear their Senate and be signed into law by a Republican Governor.

But Trump will accuse Democrats of voter fraud, and loudly. He will do it with the full force of the government, including the criminal justice system, behind him.

Get ready, and be prepared to shine a spotlight on what’s happening.

Longtime readers of Civil Discourse will recall a 2017 effort by Trump allies to collect voter data that backfired, precisely because a little sunlight proved to be an effective disinfectant. Trump created an “election integrity” commission that was supposed to identify voter fraud, but couldn’t find any. Instead, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was outed for using the commission to try to access sensitive voter information—a lot like this current operation—and Trump was forced to shut down the commission just months into its operation.

Public outrage worked in that instance. We need to use it here, as well. We’ve protested for due process. We’ve protested for the rule of law. We’ve held signs proclaiming “No Kings.” The right to vote is always part of the dialogue, but now it needs to take center stage. Share this information about what the administration is trying to do with friends and neighbors, and ensure that future protests focus on the right to vote and keeping it. Voting is the right that unlocks all other rights. And Trump is trying to take it away.

Our votes don’t exist in a vacuum—they’re shaped by laws, courts, and institutions that set the rules of democracy. At Civil Discourse, we unpack how those forces work together and why they matter at the ballot box. Subscribe for clear, informed analysis when and where it matters the most.

We’re in this together,

Joyce