Watch (above) or read (below). Hope it helps.
BUT BEFORE THAT — A QUICK UPDATE ON VOTE-BY-MAIL
On Friday (today), U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani again blocked the president’s vote-by-mail executive order from taking effect. To be clear, ballots have already been sent to voters in Delaware and North Carolina. Another 16 states will begin mailing them out in the next two weeks. The Supreme Court will have to resolve this ASAP. According to former Election Assistance Commissioner Ben Hovland, if the Supreme Court lets this executive order go forward it would be a “break-glass moment for our democracy…it’s hard to even imagine.” (Note: I interviewed Hovland for an episode of Civics Made Easy on elections. He’s great. Watch our interview here and the episode here.)
In short, there’s simply no time to comply with the president’s order. It requires special barcodes on ballots! And that’s separate from the fact the president has no constitutional role in our elections whatsoever.
So, stay tuned. And here’s what you should worry about (and what you can ignore).
VIDEO SCRIPT
Worried about the midterms? This post is for you. I’ll explain the real threats and the ones you can ignore.
Number One (Ignore): The president can’t cancel the election. He doesn’t oversee it. He has no role in it. No one who oversees our elections works for him. Yes, he fired the members of the Election Assistance Commission (like Hovland), but they don’t oversee our elections either. They give money and guidance to states. Firing them is not helpful, but it’s not a catastrophe.
Number Two (Threat): State and local election officials changing the rules last-minute. These are your state lawmakers, governor, secretary of state, state elections board, county clerk, county elections board, county commissioners, county executives, state judges, and county judges. Just days ago in Tarrant County, Texas (a swing county that’s home to Fort Worth) they cut 30% of the county’s polling places for Election Day — that’s 92 locations. It’s the kind of stuff you should protest and speak out on (and many are). But you should also plan to account for tricks like this. The best way: Vote early in-person or put your ballot in a drop-box (don’t return it by mail).
Number Three (Ignore): Don’t worry about the SAVE Act or any other restrictive federal voting law passing before November. Republicans don’t have enough votes in the Senate to stop a filibuster (you need 60 — they have 53) or enough senators willing to ditch the filibuster (you need 51 — they have nowhere near that, per Majority Leader John Thune). Unless something drastically shifts, Congress won’t be the ones changing the rules before the midterms.
Number Four (Threat): The Supreme Court. Again, it hasn’t green-lit the president’s restrictive vote-by-mail executive order — it only said that states had sued too early (before the order was official). Last week, the order became official, so states can now sue. And…they have! This will likely be back at the Supreme Court next week (per my update above). The future of this order, which lets the post office limit who receives a mail-in ballot, is in the justices’ hands.
Number Five (Both): ICE has no reason to be at the polls because noncitizens can’t vote in federal or state elections. If ICE agents are at the polls — and they intimidate voters — that’s a crime. They can be prosecuted. But it would be hard to measure the number of citizens intimidated away from voting. Armed agents roaming polling places? That’s scary to some citizens. But I think you should still vote!
In conclusion, the people who actually have power to screw with the midterms are the ~10,000 state and local officials across America who run them. Many are on your ballot this year (running to oversee 2028). So, if you care about election officials following the law, look for those jobs on your ballot (a list is below). And make sure to support the State and Local Election Alliance, which helps to elect election officials with integrity who wll follow the law.
For more updates, follow or subscribe to me on Substack — and please share this with anyone who’s similarly concerned about the fall.
THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY RUN OUR ELECTIONS
• State lawmakers (state house and senate)
• Governor
• Secretary of state (at the state level)
• State elections board
• State judges
• County clerk
• County’s elections board
• County commissioners
• County executive
• County judges
Note: This post made in partnership with the State and Local Election Alliance.
