Trump Is Already Trying to Undermine the 2026 Elections

His executive order to “protect the integrity of American elections” is nothing more than an effort to stay in power.

(Photo: Envato.com)

Trump is signing these executive orders as fast as the Christofascists at Project 2025 can draft them in White Jesus’ name. And this latest executive order on elections is some Jim Crow shit on steroids, all designed to keep the dictator and his party in power in 2026 and beyond. We would expect nothing less from those who are heavily and messily engaged in the Devil’s work.

The order, which Trump signed on March 25, claims to “protect the integrity of American elections.” When MAGA Republicans proclaim they are upholding election integrity, we are assured nothing good will come of it, because it will involve the mass suppression, purging and disenfranchisement of millions upon millions of voters, including Black, low-income and many other people who are deemed non-citizens.

Specifically, people registering to vote will have to provide government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport or Real ID. Federal agencies will provide states with databases to verify citizenship, and the U.S. attorney general will prosecute election fraud and non-citizen voting. The order would block states from counting mailed-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, even when they are mailed and postmarked before Election Day. A “uniform Election Day” could limit voting to just one day. And states will receive federal election funds based on whether they follow these “integrity measures.”

Legal Defense Fund President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson said in a statement that the executive order is “an illegal and dangerous power grab, a direct attack on American democracy, and an affront to the rule of law,” as only Congress and the states can regulate federal elections. Nelson added the executive order is not about election integrity but rather about making it harder for people to vote. “It will prevent eligible citizens from registering and casting a ballot, and will be especially burdensome for Black voters — indeed, only one-third of Black people have passports,” she said.

Nationwide, about half of American adults, or 146 million people, do not have a passport, according to the Center for American Progress. “This order will harm millions of voters — especially rural, low-income, and working-class voters — and make it even harder for eligible citizens to hold election officials, including the president, accountable,” Greta Bedekovics, associate director of Democracy Policy at CAP said of Trump’s “draconian voter suppression” measures.

According to Black Voters Matter, Trump is attempting to federalize the voter registration process of the states and bullying them to fall in line by threatening prosecution and funding cuts. “These federal attacks are part of a broader strategy to suppress Black voters that are also playing out at the state level. In Georgia, election officials recently announced plans to cancel more than 455,000 voter registrations this summer, making it one of the largest voter purges in U.S. history,” BVM said, expecting red states to move to purge voters in the coming months.

The Trump executive order has nothing to do with election integrity, in a nation where election fraud is exceedingly rare. But Trump continues to have hurt feelings over losing the 2020 election, claiming it was “stolen” because of illegal voting by non-citizens, and he’s using this Jim Crow-reminiscent measure to fix something that isn’t broken.

Why is Trump really doing this? After all, the executive order is likely unconstitutional and will fuel legal challenges. But illegality does not stop criminals such as Trump from doing what he does. This potential disenfranchisement of millions of voters has everything to do with the 2026 election and beyond. Trump is scheming to run for a third term and says he is “not joking,” even though the 22nd Amendment prohibits him from seeking office again in 2028. Purging millions from the voter rolls is the only way that white supremacists can hold onto power. Trump and the MAGA party know their policies are wholly unpopular, with ample evidence coming from the outrage at recent raucous congressional town halls around the country.

Given the razor-thin margin the Republicans hold in Congress, Trump canceled the nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik as his pick for U.N. ambassador, forcing her to stay in the House after already making her farewell tour. This, after James Malone, a Democrat, won a special Pennsylvania state Senate race in a district Trump beat Harris by over 15 points. GOP politicians are already starting to worry about a “wipeout” in 2026, and they’ll do anything to remain in power, so they are more than happy to participate in Trump’s grand voter theft.

With a presidential takeover of elections, Trump solves the problem of next year’s election, and potentially all elections that follow. This is how dictators retain power, sticking around like old luggage. More importantly, this is how Jim Crow regimes wield power, by deciding who is truly American and who is a citizen worthy of voting rights.

The times in which we live have taught us that the laws are worth nothing without enforcement. Otherwise, this whole system that governs us is based on the honor system. And there is no honor to be found when the laws are unjust and the government is operated by gangsters, grifters, Nazis, Afrikaners and evil tech bros straight out of the Marvel Universe. That would be called a power grab, like the power grab that was the regime of Jim Crow segregation.

During the Reconstruction era following the Civil War and emancipation, Black people had 2,000 elected officials. Suddenly, they were gone, a result of the Compromise of 1877, which ended Reconstruction. Senators, representatives of the House, the governor of Louisiana and a majority of the Mississippi and South Carolina state legislatures were Black, until they were not. How did this happen? Voter integrity laws to disenfranchise and suppress Black voters, including poll taxes, literacy tests, felony disenfranchisement laws, all-white primaries and other tactics. Of course, we cannot forget intimidation, violence, and Klan lynchings.

We must respond to Trump and his plan to control and ultimately end elections and kill our voting rights. And we are tired of living in a system where our basic rights depend on who is in power. It will take a movement and direct action now to correct this.