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Marc Elias's Democracy Docket on anti-voting activists drafting emergency order for Trump to control elections [View all]
Two news stories from Democracy Docket:
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/white-house-circulating-blatantly-illegal-draft-emergency-order-to-take-control-of-elections/
Anti-voting activists co-ordinating with White House on blatantly illegal draft emergency order to take control of elections
By Matt Cohen
February 26, 2026
A draft emergency executive order to declare a national emergency to allow President Donald Trump to take unprecedented control over voting is being circulated by anti-voting activists who said they are in coordination with the White House.
Voting rights experts, democracy advocates, and at least one state election chief said Trump doesn’t have the authority to claim such powers — and any attempt would be blatantly unconstitutional.
The draft order — which is said to be based on a conspiracy theory that China interfered with the 2020 election — would allow Trump to unilaterally ban mail-in ballots and voting machines on the basis that they are susceptible to foreign interference.
The order comes from MAGA activists who have been coordinating with the White House. One of the advocates for the order is Peter Ticktin, the attorney for Tina Peters, the former GOP Colorado county clerk who is currently serving a nine-year state prison sentence for her role in a 2021 voting system breach, in an attempt to find voter fraud based on election conspiracies.
-snip-
By Matt Cohen
February 26, 2026
A draft emergency executive order to declare a national emergency to allow President Donald Trump to take unprecedented control over voting is being circulated by anti-voting activists who said they are in coordination with the White House.
Voting rights experts, democracy advocates, and at least one state election chief said Trump doesn’t have the authority to claim such powers — and any attempt would be blatantly unconstitutional.
The draft order — which is said to be based on a conspiracy theory that China interfered with the 2020 election — would allow Trump to unilaterally ban mail-in ballots and voting machines on the basis that they are susceptible to foreign interference.
The order comes from MAGA activists who have been coordinating with the White House. One of the advocates for the order is Peter Ticktin, the attorney for Tina Peters, the former GOP Colorado county clerk who is currently serving a nine-year state prison sentence for her role in a 2021 voting system breach, in an attempt to find voter fraud based on election conspiracies.
-snip-
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/read-the-laughable-legal-memo-behind-the-claim-that-trump-can-declare-a-national-voting-emergency/
Read the laughable legal memo behind the claim that Trump can declare a national voting emergency
By Matt Cohen, Jim Saksa
February 26, 2026
Peter Ticktin, the Florida-based lawyer leading an effort to have President Donald Trump issue an executive order declaring a national emergency to enable a federal takeover of the upcoming midterm elections, shared his reasoning with Democracy Docket Thursday.
It was quickly torn to pieces by a leading expert on the president’s emergency powers.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE FULL MEMO
Shortly after the Washington Post reported that the White House was taking Ticktin’s plan seriously, legal experts responded with ridicule, noting how blatantly unconstitutional it would be.
But Ticktin’s reasoning appears more flawed still, relying on economic sanctions law that conveys no authority whatsoever to block mail-in ballots or seize voting machines.
-snip-
By Matt Cohen, Jim Saksa
February 26, 2026
Peter Ticktin, the Florida-based lawyer leading an effort to have President Donald Trump issue an executive order declaring a national emergency to enable a federal takeover of the upcoming midterm elections, shared his reasoning with Democracy Docket Thursday.
It was quickly torn to pieces by a leading expert on the president’s emergency powers.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE FULL MEMO
Shortly after the Washington Post reported that the White House was taking Ticktin’s plan seriously, legal experts responded with ridicule, noting how blatantly unconstitutional it would be.
But Ticktin’s reasoning appears more flawed still, relying on economic sanctions law that conveys no authority whatsoever to block mail-in ballots or seize voting machines.
-snip-
More at that link.
2 replies
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