Hello! Welcome back to The Franchise, our weekly newsletter on elections, voting rights, and the (many) ways in which the Trump administration continues to interfere with election administration, the franchise and democracy overall.
We’re glad to have you back.
There’s a lot to cover — especially after Trump’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday. We heard about widespread non-citizen voting (not a thing), the “crooked mail in ballots” (not a thing), and, non-descript “rampant” election cheating apparently being done en masse, by Dems alone! (Also not a thing.)
This week, we’ll break down the most egregious election lies that made it into Trump’s State of the Union address, as well as his big push for the SAVE America Act. We will also cover the ways in which Democratic attorneys general are preparing for Trump’s inevitable interference in the midterm elections, and, of course, the latest in the never-ending redistricting wars.
Let’s get into it.
Trump Spreads the Myth of Non-Citizen Voting to the Masses
On Tuesday night, during his State of the Union address, Trump spent a good amount of time rattling off some of his favorite election lies as a way to make a case for the SAVE America Act — legislation that would make it easier for the administration to exert even more control over states’ rights to administer elections and set their own rules for mail-in ballots, voter registration and more.
Here’s some of the most egregious election-related lies Trump included in his remarks:
- “Cheating is rampant in our elections. It’s rampant.”
- “They [Democrats] have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat.”
- “So in my first year of the second term — should be my third term.”
Trump spent a few minutes of his lengthy speech also talking about a non-existent issue and a favorite GOP myth: non-citizen voting and the need for the SAVE America Act, a voter suppression bill that would, among other things, mandate documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration in federal elections.
“I’m asking you to approve the SAVE America Act,” he said. “It’s very simple. All voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship. No more crooked mail-in ballots, except for illness, disability, military or travel.”
The legislation, as we have reported before, would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters and keep alive the false narrative that non-citizens are voting en masse in our elections. There is zero evidence to suggest that non-citizen voting is happening. It’s also worth mentioning that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Despite the lack of evidence, it’s been a particular area of fixation for Republicans for years.
Earlier this month, the House passed the Save America Act in a 218-213 vote. The legislation is currently dead on arrival in the Senate unless Republican leadership decides to change the filibuster rules in order to pass it, something that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has repeatedly said his conference does not currently have the appetite for.
House Democrats, responding to Trump’s push for the Save America Act, wrote on X on Tuesday night that the legislation is “a federal takeover of state and local elections.”
“Trump and Republicans want to suppress the vote,” they added. “They’re trying to RIG elections, but we won’t let them.”
Democratic Attorneys General Prepare for the Inevitable
Democratic attorneys general are preparing for the very likely possibility that Trump will interfere in some lawless way in the midterm elections.
Trump basically said he will insert himself into the election administration process when he issued the brazen call to “nationalize” elections earlier this month. Let’s also not forget that in January the FBI executed a search warrant in a Fulton County election hub related to 2020 election conspiracy theories with an apparent goal of somehow uncovering fraud in a secure election five years later (???). And, of course, as we have been reporting for months now, Trump’s DOJ is demanding sensitive voter data from states across the country. So yes, states are just a little worried about what might happen in the midterms.
In response, as Politico outlined this week, Democratic attorneys general are, for good reason, preparing for all possible scenarios.
“[Trump] wants to continue to have his party prevail, seemingly by whatever means necessary,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta told Politico. “So we have to be ready for that, sad and tragic as it is.”
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown described some of Trump’s recent remarks as a “red-alarm fire that people need to take very seriously.”
Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that she fears that a Fulton County like-raid could very well happen in Michigan, too.
“We recognize that what happened in Fulton County could happen in Detroit. Not because there’s any merit to claims that anything wrong happened in Detroit, but because we know that those claims will be made again,” she said.
And Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford similarly told Politico that Trump “likes to sow chaos because he thinks it’s going to throw people off their game.”
“But he has met his match when it comes to the Nevada attorney general’s office; he’s met his match when it comes to the Democratic attorneys general,” he added.
Around the States: Redistricting
Maryland
Maryland’s Democratic-led redistricting effort is failing. Tuesday was the unofficial deadline (and the candidate filing deadline) to act on the state’s redistricting proposal ahead of the midterms.
The Maryland House approved a new congressional map earlier this month, but has faced consistent opposition to the proposal in the Senate.
Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore has not given up on the effort, however.
“I think that these are artificial deadlines that are put together by politicians, and I think politicians can adjust in any way that they see fit,” Moore told Fox45.
Utah
In a win for Democrats, a federal court rejected a Republican effort to block the state’s newly approved Dem-favoring congressional maps.
As a reminder, a Utah judge rejected a new Republican-favoring congressional map in November, instead approving a map that likely secures a Democratic district.
In Other Election News
‘A really really big decision’: The court cases looming over the midterms (Politico)
Georgia State Election Board declines to seize control of Fulton County elections, for now (Georgia Recorder)
Exclusive: State election chiefs are huddling to plan responses to Trump’s expected interference in midterms (Democracy Docket)
