Trump and the Future of Election Rigging

In February, 2016, Donald Trump lost to Ted Cruz in Iowa’s Republican primary. Trump’s response: “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he illegally stole it.” Trump followed up that charge with this one: “Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.”

From his first time on the ballot, through every election since, including those where he was declared the winner, Trump has claimed, with absolutely no evidence, that elections have been “rigged.”

This year, finally, Trump may be proven right--if he succeeds in doing the rigging. He’s certainly doing everything he can think of to steal the November mid-term elections. Just read this extensive summary in the January 12 Washington Post.

How Trump Is Trying to Rig the 2026 Midterm Elections

Pushing states to redraw House congressional districts, demanding an end to mail voting, attacking the validity of voting machine results, seeking the private information of all registered voters, staffing the administration with election skeptics and deniers, and calling out the troops….he’s rigging a campaign worthy of Russia’s Putin or Turkey’s Erdogon.

Trump’s Department of Justice already is performing as if it’s his private law firm. More than 170 election rule-defining cases are working their way through the courts, most of them designed to limit voting rights and voter turnout. In many of them, the DOJ is arguing for Trump’s interests, not the voters.

And what about those voters’ lists the DOJ is demanding? What could the Trump White do with your personal information if they get their hands on it? Laser target campaign messages to you, yes, if they think your vote is winnable. But more insidiously, try to purge you from the voting rolls or raise questions on your eligibility that would sidetrack you onto “provisional” ballots that often don’t get counted.

That’s a campaign tactic Republicans have had great success with in Georgia and other states where they control election machinery. Taking it nationally could wildly distort election outcomes in many closely fought state and congressional elections.

And does anyone think ICE won’t be out in force near voting places where Hispanics and others of color represent a signific percentage of the voting population?

That’s all before a single vote is cast. Expect massive litigation afterward if the vote count results in a Democratic House or Senate majority.

How the Public Can Respond and Why the 2026 Election Is Different

So how does the public defend itself against Trump’s determined efforts to rig the 2016 election?

Participation by lawyers needed to bring and defend cases will be crucial. Until this year, we could expect the Department of Justice, with its unlimited resources, to be on the public’s side. This year, the DOJ will likely be the adversary. Until this year, major law firms could be counted on to defend the right to vote. Trump now has many of them cowed into silence.

Mid and small law firms will need to spearhead the defense, and fortunately, many of them already are stepping up in ongoing legal actions. But in the weeks leading up to and beyond the November 3 elections every lawyer in America who believes in the rule of law should make himself or herself available to deal with voting challenges.

As for non-lawyers, permanent and ad hoc groups that have been so successful organizing street protests and visibility brigades will need to add to their to-do list participation at state and local election commission meetings, and signing on as election judges and poll workers and watchers.

As for early voting and election day itself, the millions who have marched will need to transform into a VPA—a Vote Protection Army, monitoring early voting sites, election day polling places and doing everything needed to be alert for illegal activity and intimidation. Possibly to the extent of confronting ICE.

Ordinarily, you would expect this to be a job for political party organizers and volunteers. But 2026 is no ordinary election year. Our very right to a free and fair election will be tested. That’s a much bigger deal than partisan politics.

For the past 10 years, Donald Trump has warned that our elections are rigged. So far, he’s had no proof. This year, believe him.

Comments? Criticism? Contact Joe Rothstein at jrothstein@rothstein.net

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