Democrats ramp up efforts to fight Trump, GOP over election integrity

Campaign Democrats ramp up efforts to fight Trump, GOP over election integrity Comments: by Julia Mueller - 07/01/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Julia Mueller - 07/01/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Democrats are ramping up efforts to safeguard elections as they warn that the Trump administration could try to influence the midterms.

Senate Democrats last week pressed the administration to retain all midterm-related records, citing concerns that President Trump could tamper with voting results, and launched a program that will train congressional staff as election observers to “protect against any meddling” this fall.

Separately, in the House, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) last week argued there’s “no question” Trump will try to interfere in this year’s election.

Trump has championed plans that he says will add security to elections, saying Monday the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act — which would require people to have proof of citizenship and a photo ID to vote — is “more important than ever.”

Democrats are dead set against the legislation, which has made it through the Republican-led House three times but struggled in the GOP-held Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome procedural hurdles and a filibuster.

While Trump says the bill would secure elections, Democrats say it would cut some people off from being able to vote because they would lack the necessary documentation.

Outside observers argue all the fighting shows how politicized elections have become and consider it a warning sign.

“The idea that elections have to be protected from the federal government, as opposed to being protected by the federal government, shows you just how much our democracy has deteriorated,” said Richard Hasen, an election law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “I don’t think there’s ever been concerns, whether there have been Republican presidents or Democratic presidents, that the federal government might interfere with the conduct of free and fair elections.”

Trump last week canceled the signing of a bipartisan housing bill as he lambasted the Senate for its inaction on the SAVE America Act.

In response, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused the president of “holding housing relief hostage, so he gets to pick who gets to vote” through the SAVE America Act.

“We’re not waiting for the chaos to arrive. We’re preparing now,” Schumer said at a news conference announcing the elections observer program.

The program, which is similar to another in the House, aims to recruit Senate staff members to act as independent monitors at polling places on behalf of Congress. It serves as an extension of the Election Protection Task Force launched by Schumer and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) earlier this year. Other groups, like the American Civil Liberties Union, run their own volunteer programs.

“The threats to the 2026 election are not hypothetical. They’re happening in real time. Donald Trump’s trying to shake America’s faith in the midterm elections before a single vote is cast,” Schumer said.

Schumer and Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (Va.) also sent a letter last week to Trump administration officials “regarding alarming reports that your agencies have taken or are at risk of taking actions under the guise of election security that are improper or illegal.” The letter said the reports raise “serious concerns about ongoing efforts by this Administration to undermine the integrity of and actively interfere with the 2026 elections.”

The Democratic senators also said they were “deeply troubled by the fact that many of your agencies have failed to address election security altogether,” citing cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI election security programs.

The moves come amid heightened voter distrust in the government and in U.S. elections.

“I think it’s pretty unsurprising to see Democrats putting themselves on the front foot here and trying to be proactive, especially as we’re well into primary season and closer and closer to the general election,” said Michael Hanmer, a University of Maryland political science professor with a focus on voting and elections.

But it’s “a strategic balancing act for Democrats,” Hanmer said, as lawmakers look to take action without further inflaming voter mistrust or debunked fears about voter fraud in past elections.

“If they sit around and do nothing, then only one side is being aired, but I think they have to be careful about how they approach things and reinforce the strength of the system and the faith in the system that they have, and all of the evidence that supports that,” Hanmer said.

The White House has repeatedly pushed back against Democrats’ election alarm.

“If Democrats really cared about securing our elections, they would pass the SAVE America Act which includes commonsense election integrity measures supported by the vast majority of Americans,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to multiple outlets earlier this month.

Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday that it is “more important than ever” for the Senate to advance the SAVE America Act after a “tremendous loss” at the Supreme Court.

The high court issued a Monday ruling allowing states to count mail-in ballots received after polls close in federal races, rejecting a Republican-led push to end the practice.

Trump has long claimed, without evidence, that mail-in ballots and instances of voting by immigrants without legal status contributed to widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which he lost against former President Biden. And those claims have formed the backdrop for his calls to “nationalize” elections and pass the SAVE America Act.

The ruling marked another blow to the president, whose opposition to mail-in ballots has ruffled even some Republicans as the party grapples with his plans to overhaul U.S. elections.

“There’s no question that Trump’s actions undermine voter confidence of both Republicans and Democrats. It undermines Republicans because he keeps telling his supporters that elections are rigged, and it undermines Democrats, because then Republicans take steps to pass new restrictive laws, and Democrats see that as trying to mess with the elections. So all around, everybody’s confidence is shaken,” Hasen said.

“In terms of Trump actually being able to interfere with the elections, I think that’s another story,” he said, pointing to the Supreme Court ruling. “So far, he’s been mostly stymied in what he’s tried to do in terms of setting the rules for the midterms.”

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