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Democrats and election-rights lawyers are again raising alarms about potential federal influence over the 2026 midterm elections, arguing that President Donald Trump and his administration could use powers reserved to the federal government in ways that would affect how Americans vote in state-run contests. The renewed concerns follow a period in which off-year elections in 2025 did not produce major disruptions, but they also come as Democrats and Republicans gear up for intense midterm-year campaigns around voting operations and public confidence.
One warning comes from Ken Martin, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who told The Associated Press that Democrats fear the administration could keep federal troops in place for the purpose of shaping voter behavior. Martin said, “What he is going to do is send those troops there, and keep them there all the way through the next election, because guess what? If people are afraid of leaving their house, they’re probably not going to leave their house to go vote on Election Day. That’s how he stays in power.” Martin’s remarks were part of a broader Democratic case that Trump is trying to prevent a political reversal in 2026 similar to what happened when Democrats gained control of the House during his first term.
Critics also point to what they describe as Trump’s efforts to reshape electoral districts in ways that could create more conservative-leaning House seats. Democrats and other opponents say Trump has directed action against Democratic politicians, activists and donors, while also pursuing federal moves that critics say went beyond what Democratic mayors and governors wanted in previous periods.
Democrats’ concerns are tied to past disputes over federal involvement in voting-related actions and public order, including the claim that Trump sent the military into Democratic cities over objections and pushed the Department of Homeland Security toward aggressive enforcement. Critics also recalled an episode in which, they said, federal agents handcuffed a Democratic U.S. senator—raising concerns that federal agencies could act in ways that affect political participation.
Trump’s team and the White House rejected the warnings. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the concerns about the midterms come from Democratic politicians who are “fearmongering to score political points with the radical left flank of the Democrat party that they are courting ahead of their doomed-to-fail presidential campaigns.” She described their concerns as “baseless conspiracy theories.” Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, also denied that Trump is planning to use the military to suppress votes, telling Vanity Fair, “I say it is categorically false, will not happen. It’s just wrongheaded.”
Some Democrats and advocates acknowledged that the lack of drama in the most recent off-year elections could mean the worst-case scenarios may not materialize, but they said they still see legal and administrative pathways for interference. Under the Constitution, presidents have limited tools to intervene in elections because states run elections and oversee ballot counting, even as Congress sets rules for federal elections.
Alexandra Chandler, legal director of Protect Democracy, said she was “heartened” by the absence of major incidents during 2025 voting. She contrasted the quiet off-year races with what she described as continued limits on Trump’s power, including GOP senators’ resistance to Trump’s demands to eliminate the filibuster and resistance to Trump’s demand that Jimmy Kimmel lose his job.
Election-law experts said the midterm-year risk can come in ways short of visible disruptions at polling places. Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor, said concerns are “real; they’re not frivolous,” and warned that the president could pursue tactics like pushing election officials in ways that are not supported by the evidence, as well as spreading misinformation to undermine confidence in vote tallies. Hasen said it could be harder to do so in more lopsided contests, including some elections that played out in 2025.
Alongside those concerns, one of the most prominent issues for election officials and voting-rights advocates is the Justice Department’s pursuit of voter data from states. David Becker, a former Justice Department voting rights attorney and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said the federal demand is the kind of move that should worry people across party lines. Becker said, “What the DOJ is trying to do is something that should frighten everybody across the political spectrum,” describing an effort to use executive power to compel states to provide highly sensitive information such as date of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license details, and what he called “the Holy Trinity of identity theft.”
In parallel with the concerns, both parties are preparing for how they will respond to misinformation and operational incidents during the midterms. The Associated Press reported that Democrats are expected to mount what they call a “voter protection” effort, while Republicans focus on what they call “election integrity.” Dan Freeman, the DNC litigation director, said he has not seen an indication that Trump will send immigration enforcement agents to polling places during the midterms, but he said the party is wary and has filed public records requests. Freeman also said the DNC is drafting legal pleadings it could file if armed federal agents are sent to polling sites or if the administration intervenes in another way.
Freeman said his work this year reflects an effort to strengthen the DNC’s internal legal capacity for election-related enforcement, including advising states on limits around how voter rolls can be purged. Tina Barton, co-chair of the Committee on Safe and Secure Elections, said interest in the group’s trainings has “exploded,” adding that “There’s a lot at stake, and that’s going to cause a lot of emotions,” as jurisdictions plan how to de-escalate events at polling places.
Sources in the current debate also pointed to the role of federal monitoring rather than immediate disruptions. The Associated Press described that the Department of Justice sent federal monitors to observe voting in a handful of counties in California and New Jersey ahead of the 2025 elections, noting that the step had no impact on voting even as Democrats raised alarm.
This story has been corrected to reflect the correct name of Alexandra Chandler’s organization, Protect Democracy.