Trump Administration Escalates Federal Intervention in State Elections, Seizes Ballots and Sues States

The Trump administration has escalated federal intervention in state elections, seizing ballots in Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan while suing some 30 states and the District of Columbia for refusing to provide voter rolls and other records, according to a detailed account by two academic observers.

Under the Constitution, states — not the president — have primary authority over the "times, places and manner" of elections. Yet the administration has increasingly sought to override state control, alter voting rules and suppress turnout, especially among groups likely to vote Democratic, the authors wrote.

In 2025, the Justice Department demanded that nearly every state and the District of Columbia provide voter registration rolls, ballots from recent elections, driver's license records, partial Social Security numbers, and access to voting equipment. The administration warned the information would be shared with the Department of Homeland Security. The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has sued some 30 states and the District of Columbia for refusing to comply.

In January 2026, a dozen FBI agents confiscated ballots from the 2020 election in Fulton County, Ga., citing unspecified concerns about possible destruction of records and evidence of fraudulent votes. In March, the FBI subpoenaed voting records from the 2020 election in Maricopa County, Ariz., relying in part on unsubstantiated claims of "irregularities" in the storage of blank and absentee ballots. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) pointed out that the election results had been "certified, litigated and confirmed" several years ago — a six-month statewide audit that tallied 99 additional votes for Joe Biden and 261 fewer for Trump.

In April, the Justice Department demanded that Michigan officials turn over all 865,000 ballots and ballot envelopes from Wayne County for the 2024 election. Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for Civil Rights, offered several reasons, including three voter fraud cases, a 2020 lawsuit involving absentee ballots, and "accountability for the outrageous weaponization of the deep state against Trump and his team." Dhillon failed to mention that the three people accused of fraud were prosecuted, and the absentee ballot case was dismissed for lack of evidence, the authors noted. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) called the investigation "a poorly disguised attempt" to sow doubt and spread misinformation to justify federal intervention in upcoming elections.

Hours after Virginia voters approved a redistricting referendum on April 22, President Trump declared the election had been "rigged." "All day long Republicans are winning," he claimed, "until the very end when, of course, there was a 'massive mail-in ballot Drop!' … and the Democrats eked out another crooked victory!"

A March executive order directs Homeland Security to coordinate with the Social Security Administration to assemble and share lists of voting-age citizens with state election officials, who would then work with the U.S. Postal Service to oversee the distribution and collection of mail-in ballots. The order faces court challenges on multiple grounds, including privacy concerns and the president's lack of constitutional authority to make or alter election rules.

By the end of 2025, almost all Justice and Homeland Security officials responsible for securing elections had resigned, been reassigned, or been fired. They were replaced by political activists, many of them prominent election deniers. FBI Director Kash Patel shuttered the public corruption unit that monitors criminal activity on Election Day and the Foreign Influence Task Force, which tracks meddling by adversaries across the globe. Patel also revived unsubstantiated theories about Chinese interference in the 2020 election.

Courts, audits and election officials have repeatedly found no evidence to support claims of widespread fraud beyond a few isolated instances that had no effect on election outcomes. According to polling, 63 percent of Republicans believe Trump won the 2020 election; 83 percent worry about fraudulent mail-in or absentee ballots; 82 percent think many non-citizens are voting; and 62 percent favor stationing federal law enforcement officers at polling places. Only 33 percent of Republicans, Democrats and independents ages 18-29 believe that the 2026 midterms will be conducted fairly.

The account was written by David Wippman, emeritus president of Hamilton College, and Glenn C. Altschuler, The Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.