1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to protect our state's election infrastructure from federal interference ahead of the November 2026 midterms. A coordinated campaign by the Trump administration threatens to undermine the constitutional authority of states to administer their own elections. On February 2, 2026, Trump told conservative podcaster Dan Bongino that "the Republicans should say, 'We want to take over.' We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting." The next day in the Oval Office, he stated "a state is an agent for the federal government in elections" and questioned why the federal government doesn't run elections directly. He specifically targeted Detroit, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, all majority-Black or majority-minority cities. These statements are not hypothetical. On January 28, 2026, FBI agents raided Fulton County's election operations center and seized nearly 700 boxes of 2020 ballots and voting records. Steve Bannon announced on his War Room podcast that ICE agents would surround polling stations during the November midterms, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to rule this out. Since May 2025, the DOJ has demanded unredacted voter rolls from at least 44 states and sued 24 that refused. The legal framework to resist exists and is working. Three federal judges have blocked key provisions of Trump's March 2025 executive order. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly permanently struck down the proof-of-citizenship requirement, writing that "the President can neither make law nor rewrite the law that Congress has enacted." Federal judges in California and Oregon dismissed DOJ lawsuits seeking unredacted voter files. I urge you to take these specific actions before summer: Pass or strengthen a state Voting Rights Act with explicit provisions allowing voters and election workers to seek emergency injunctions against federal agents near polling places. Establish rapid-response legal teams for filing emergency court orders on Election Day. Direct local officials to document federal enforcement activity near election infrastructure. Refuse any DOJ demands for unredacted voter files. Secure backup copies of voter rolls and establish redundant tabulation capacity. Republican officials including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger have already pushed back against these federal overreach efforts. This is not a partisan issue. It is about preserving the constitutional authority of states to administer elections and protecting every citizen's right to vote without intimidation.