Report: Anti-voting activists co-ordinating with White House on blatantly illegal draft emergency order to take control of elections

According to a Washington Post article, anti-election activists are circulating a draft emergency decree that would declare a national emergency and grant President Donald Trump unprecedented powers over the electoral process. These activists claim to be coordinating with the White House.

This draft decree, based on a conspiracy theory alleging Chinese interference in the 2020 election, would allow Trump to unilaterally ban mail-in voting and electronic voting machines, claiming they are vulnerable to foreign interference.

However, election law experts and at least one state election official have stated that Trump lacks the authority to grant such powers and that any attempt to do so would be manifestly unlawful.

David Baker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research and a former attorney in the Justice Department’s Division of Civil Rights, wrote on social media: “What a patently unconstitutional presidential decree!” Detached from all legal and factual reality, it will allow the courts to overturn this power grab well before the election and reaffirm the clear limits of federal interference in elections.

“The Constitution is crystal clear,” said Michael McNulty, policy director of the pro-democracy organization ISHO ONE, in a statement. “The president has no legal authority to unilaterally change election rules. Any attempt by the White House to do so would be unconstitutional and would almost certainly be struck down by the courts.”

Ned Foley, an election law expert, noted that “new federal law would be required to give the president or any other branch of the federal executive branch this type of authority over the administration of elections to Congress.”

In a statement, Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold pledged to “fight” any attempt by Trump to control the election process through such a presidential decree.

“Donald Trump remains one of the greatest threats to American elections,” Griswold said. Whether or not this draft executive order is ultimately implemented, every American, regardless of their political affiliation or ideological beliefs, should be deeply concerned by Trump’s continued reliance on lies and conspiracy theories to justify his attempts to seize control of the election administration and cling to power. This is not democracy; it is an attempt to establish an authoritarian regime.

Justin Levitt, a professor of constitutional law at Loyola Marymount University and a former Justice Department elections official, told Democracy Doc that the draft executive order described by The Washington Post is not only illegal, but that “there is no legal basis for any local official to comply with it.”

Leavitt added, “There’s no need to file a lawsuit to stop it; you just… don’t comply. And it’s easier and faster.”

The draft executive order reportedly originated with activists from the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement, who circulated it within the White House. One of its supporters is Peter Ticktin, the lawyer for Tina Peters, a former Republican congresswoman from Colorado, currently serving a nine-year prison sentence for her involvement in the 2021 U.S. election hack. This hack aimed to expose voter fraud based on conspiracy theories.

The Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution explicitly grants the states—not the president—exclusive authority over elections. However, Ticktin told The Washington Post that any hostile foreign interference in elections “constitutes a national emergency requiring presidential intervention.”

Ticktin added that he is coordinating with the White House regarding this draft executive order.

This isn’t the first time Trump supporters and opponents have suggested he might use his emergency powers to control the election process before the midterm elections. In September, Cleita Mitchell, a prominent conservative lawyer—who played a key role in Trump’s unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 election results—said on a podcast that she believed “the president is considering using certain emergency powers to protect the upcoming federal elections.”

Mitchell added, “The president’s power over elections is limited, except in cases of a threat to the national sovereignty of the United States, which, in my view, can be demonstrated by the malfunctions in the electoral system.”

According to conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, a draft executive order outlining how Trump could use his emergency powers to seize the vote due to a foreign threat has been circulating since at least July, according to The Washington Post.

McNulty added: “The administration is reportedly considering using false allegations of Chinese interference in the 2020 election to justify the draft executive order. There is no credible evidence of Chinese government interference in the 2020 election, and intelligence agencies have already released reports confirming this.”