COUNTING ON CHAOS

Election Chiefs Race to Prepare for Trump Nightmare Scenario

Trump has a history of interfering with elections he doesn’t like the result of.

Election officials across the U.S. are preparing for the possibility that President Donald Trump’s administration could try to interfere with the results of November’s midterms.

The concerns have intensified as the elections near, with officials preparing for scenarios ranging from federal agents appearing at polling stations to attempts to seize voting equipment or block the certification of results.

Trump has a history of interfering with elections he doesn’t like the result of. He has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that U.S. elections are rigged and sought to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

Earlier this year, he called for the federal government to “get involved” in elections, despite the constitutional role of states and Congress in administering and regulating the voting process.

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His administration has since sought access to state voter records and attempted to change rules governing mail-in ballots.

Last week, the Justice Department sued Alaska to block certification of a close Senate race if Republican Dan Sullivan loses, after Trump directed it to act.

Trump has also refused to rule out invoking the Insurrection Act.

And with Republicans trailing Democrats in the polls and several districts Trump won by double digits in 2024 now competitive, election officials fear the administration could try to challenge the midterm results.

“This is the first time ever that we have had to engage in scenario planning to safeguard against potential federal interference in elections,” Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state in Maine, told the New York Times. “It seems like the federal government is now adversarial to the states.”

Several voting advocacy groups are offering training to election officials to prepare for potential federal interference, according to the New York Times.

Tina Barton, co-chairwoman of the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, said her team had held about 140 training sessions for local government officials and law enforcement this year, more than double the 67 sessions held in 2024.

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“It’s sad that we’re in this posture,” Bellows said. “But it’s just the way it is in 2026, given the administration’s rhetoric, and their actions.”

Barb Byrum, the clerk of Ingham County, Michigan, told the newspaper she was already worried about the Trump administration’s actions, including the Justice Department’s deployment of federal election monitors to her county during the August primary.

It was the first time federal monitors had been sent there in her nearly 14 years as clerk, she said.

“The feds suggested that there were long lines, voters were not offered provisional ballots and clerks and precinct workers failed to use the qualified voter file to check voters,” she said. “All of which is simply not true.”

After the primary, Byrum gave election workers extra training on what federal monitors could and could not do under state law.

“They can watch the process,” Byrum said. “They can’t touch anything, they can’t ask any questions. They can literally just watch—monitor.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, said he and Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon were working together to prepare for potential election threats.

Asked to rate his concern about threats to the Nov. 3 election on a scale of 1 to 10, Ellison said: “I’m at a seven.” He added: “It’s as high as it’s ever been for me.”

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Election officials are also training poll workers on how to respond if immigration officers appear on election day, The New York Times reported.

Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin has said ICE will not patrol polling stations and would only be sent to such areas to investigate “specific threats.”

But some officials remain concerned about the possibility.

“We really are shadowboxing here, because we don’t know when or if the blow is going to land,” Simon told the New York Times. “We don’t know the character of, or content of, what might be headed our way.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

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