President Donald Trump is apparently taking the buffet approach to election reform: why order one big entree when you can load up your plate with a little bit of everything? As Trending Politics reported, the administration is pursuing executive actions, agency overhauls, congressional pressure, and Justice Department warnings all at once, creating what critics have dubbed a "death by a thousand cuts" strategy to reshape the nation's election system ahead of the midterms.
Last week, Trump gutted the Election Assistance Commission, a federal body so obscure that most Americans would lose to it in a game of Name That Agency. Election officials warned the move could weaken cybersecurity support for state and local offices, which is the kind of thing that sounds pretty important when you read what came next.
During a primetime address Thursday, Trump authorized the release of classified documents he said detail Chinese interference in U.S. elections, particularly during the 2020 cycle. "First, they show that over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People's Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history, resulting in China's illicit acquisition of 220 million US voter files," the president stated.
That is a staggering number. For context, that is roughly the entire voting age population of the United States. Trump added that the stolen data "includes names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences, and other sensitive data that would be needed to register to vote and engage in other nefarious activities, which is exactly what was happening." He called it "an unprecedented election security nightmare."
The documents are being released in phases on the White House website, because apparently even declassified bombshells get the streaming series treatment now.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has been sending letters to state officials warning they could face prosecution if non-citizens are allowed to vote. Voting by non-citizens in federal elections is already illegal, so this is essentially the government reminding states that the law exists, which is either reassuring or threatening depending on your perspective. More than a dozen courts have rejected DOJ efforts to compel states to hand over voter registration records.
The Department of Homeland Security also warned states that federal election security funding could be at risk if they refuse to use a federal system to verify voter citizenship. Nothing says cooperation like a gentle funding squeeze.
Democrats are not amused. "This is a concerted effort of death by a thousand cuts," said Ingham County, Michigan, Clerk Barb Byrum, a Democrat. "Every day is another battle, but the war that we're fighting is to maintain our democracy."
Ann Jacobs, a Democratic member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, added: "Do I think this is part of the pattern and intentionality of undermining confidence in elections? Yes, yes, I do. The constant drumbeat since 2020 has been specifically designed to do that, and it's distressing."
Trump continues pushing Congress to pass the SAVE Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. With midterms less than four months away, the administration clearly decided that waiting around for one single piece of legislation was for amateurs. Why swing one big sword when you have a thousand smaller ones just sitting there?
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