Experts Warn Trump Eyeing Election Emergency Declaration

The White House would not rule out an executive order declaring an elections emergency, declining to comment on hypotheticals.

"Extreme liberal Democrats are keeping Americans from having full confidence in their elections by refusing to vote for the Save America Act," White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said. "The American people overwhelmingly support this commonsense legislation that ensures Americans, and Americans only, decide our elections. President Trump is absolutely right: we fix this now, or we lose our country."

Aria Branch, a partner at the Elias Law Group who led a lawsuit blocking Trump's earlier executive orders on election administration, said the administration is "trying to lay the groundwork to declare some sort of emergency to nationalize elections. I think the president is looking for any opportunity to do that."

Branch said she believes no legal basis exists. "Noncitizen voting in our elections is just not a widespread problem," she said. "All of the fear and narrative around that issue is just completely unfounded, and it's really just to stoke fear and lay the groundwork for future action."

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, dismissed the Census Bureau brief. "This alleged analysis based on census data fails the laugh test," he said. "The administration does not provide a sufficient explanation of how it arrived at these numbers — and for good reason."

Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney turned Trump critic, told PBS after the July address that the speech "is intended to add the predicate that he needs to declare an emergency at or about the time of the elections." Cobb said ICE agents at polling places are "a virtual certainty" and questioned whether National Guard officers would be deployed as well.

Santiago Mayer, president of the gen Z voter group Voters of Tomorrow, said his organization is planning for any scenario. "We have spent a long time thinking and preparing for any eventuality and anything that he might attempt," he said. "I think our focus at the end of the day is to turn out enough voters where, no matter what he pulls, it won't succeed."

On the night of Trump's July address, Bannon texted CNN: "We need a National Security Emergency about the midterm elections immediately — this is a powerful predicate for that."