1. United States
2. Kan.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose any effort to federalize or nationalize election administration, a proposal that President Trump recently advocated during an interview with Dan Bongino. Trump stated that Republicans "should take over the voting" and "nationalize the voting" in "at least, many, 15 places," though he provided no details about what this means or which jurisdictions he was targeting. This proposal is both unconstitutional and dangerous. Article I, Section IV of the Constitution assigns state legislatures the power to determine how congressional elections are held, with Congress having authority to regulate what states do. The Constitution provides no avenue for a president to decide how elections are run. As David Becker, a nonpartisan voting expert, noted: "The founders were very wise in singling out elections as a place where the president has literally no power." Our decentralized election system, with more than 10,000 election administration jurisdictions across the country, is a feature, not a bug. This structure allows local officials to tailor rules to local needs and makes it far more difficult for bad actors to commit systemic fraud or launch nationwide cyberattacks. Concentrating election power at the federal level would create a single point of failure that could be exploited. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold stated the problem clearly: "There is one small problem – the Constitution prevents federalizing elections. It's very alarming that Trump continues to use his platform to undermine American elections." Even veteran Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg expressed concern about this dramatic shift, noting: "I remember when Republicans believed in states' rights and were firmly against any federal encroachment into many state policies, and elections above all." I urge you to publicly oppose any legislation or executive action that would concentrate election administration power in the executive branch or federalize what has been, for 237 years, a state and local function. The peaceful transfer of power through free and fair elections is fundamental to our democracy.