State voting rights

The Trump administration has been taking steps that interfere with states’ authority over their election systems and voter data. In at least twelve states, the DOJ has requested voter rolls, 2020 and 2024 election records, and other sensitive election data that federal law prevents the DOJ from accessing first-hand. In Colorado, a consultant that claimed to be working for the White House requested third-party access to examine the voting equipment in several Democratic districts, while Arizona has been threatened with legal action for not verifying voters’ identities properly. Additionally, the Trump administration has implemented “a searchable national citizenship data system” to ensure that only American citizens are voting, yet the secrecy surrounding the creation of the database is leading many to suspect it could inaccurately disenfranchise eligible voters. Election officials have raised concerns about the federal government collecting and storing this private data and what the data could be used for. Much like Trump and his allies pushed the baseless idea that there was rampant non-citizen voting before the 2024 election, Trump and his allies now seem to be “laying the groundwork to interfere with a free and fair election in 2026.” Studies have made it clear that voter fraud of any kind is rare. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) has also referred to the attempts to infiltrate her state’s election equipment as “the 2020 playbook on steroids,” likening it to Trump’s denial of the 2020 election and the resulting January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. This administration’s continual attempts to chip away at voters’ rights and take control of our independent election systems are an existential threat to our democracy. I demand that our state leaders work to stop Trump’s interference and protect the integrity of our elections.