How to Rig an Election Without Touching a Machine

Federal observers. DOJ audits. Redrawn districts. This isn’t security, it’s leverage.

“We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it.”
— President Donald Trump, 12:44 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Days later, “Stop the Steal” chants erupted across the country. At the time, it looked like posturing. Five years later, it reads like a preamble.

What began as an evidence-free grievance in 2020 has matured into federal strategy in 2025. The Trump administration is no longer denying the past, it’s actively trying to dictate the future. A fabricated grievance has become federal policy.

What the New Playbook Looks Like

A recent Washington Post investigation revealed a roadmap for a federalized election regime. Here’s what it includes:

• A federal observer corps embedded in local election offices.

• DOJ-led audits of jurisdictions the White House deems “suspect.”

• Public shaming of “untrustworthy” cities and states—often those with large Black and Latino electorates.

• Drafting led by 2020 “Stop the Steal” architects, like Stephen Miller.

And in this past June, a senior Department of Homeland Security official gave a closed-door briefing to Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network, explaining how to use federal databases to verify voter citizenship, a roadmap some warn could spark mass voter-roll purges.

Why Centralizing Elections Is Dangerous

The U.S. was designed to decentralize elections. More than 10,000 local jurisdictions run the process, diffusing power, deterring fraud, and respecting state sovereignty. A federally controlled apparatus would reverse 240 years of that structure, allowing Washington to override or delay state-certified results at will.

This isn’t election security. It’s leverage.

The pattern isn’t repetition, it’s escalation.

What Could Happen in 2026 & 2028

These are the scenarios national security and election protection professionals are already gaming out:

• Swing states certifying and navigating a narrow Trump team loss.

• DOJ “review teams” descend, seizing ballots and delaying certification. 

• The U.S. Postal Service is caught in the middle, with employees fearing threats from within their own community and election clerks facing the same concerns. (Reminder: The fear and the intimidation by their own neighbors and friends is the point.)

• Local officials face federal retaliation or prosecution. 

What’s in writing:

Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership (P.594) spells it out:

“Reassigning Responsibility for Prosecuting Election‑Related Offenses from the Civil Rights Division to the Criminal Division. The Attorney General in the next conservative Administration should reassign responsibility for prosecuting violations of 18 U.S. Code § 241 from the Civil Rights Division to the Criminal Division where it belongs. Otherwise, voter‑registration fraud and unlawful ballot correction will remain federal election offenses that are never appropriately investigated and prosecuted.”

Voting‑rights groups warn that shifting these cases to the DOJ’s Criminal Division would “open the door to sham investigations and aggressive prosecutions of voters and election officials”, effectively weaponizing federal law to chill turnout and strong-arm local administrators. How does this play out exactly? Polling sites quietly close, and thousands of ballots are tossed for “irregularities”. No need to hack machines when you can stall or erase the tally. Local leaders are bracing. Watchdogs are lawyering up, but litigation takes time and is slow.

The Confidence Gap is Real

A Brennan Center survey (April–May 2025) found that out of 858 local election officials:

• 38% received threats or harassment.

• 59% fear political interference.

• 60% are concerned about cuts to election security.

And new research from the States United Democracy Center shows what that fear costs: if every voter trusted their ballot would be counted, turnout in 2024 would have climbed by 3-3.7 points—up to 5.7 million more votes. Yes, you read that correctly. When leaders manufacture distrust, they don’t just poison discourse; they shrink the electorate itself, eroding the legitimacy they claim to defend.

All of this combined with the fact that election officials are quitting en masse. Threats, stress, and now federal audits are hollowing out local expertise. I’m not telling you this to scare or discourage you. I’m telling you this so that you can stay focused on it, share the information, and engage your friends and family to vote. Plant the seed now, regardless of what’s happening. We have to show up.

Flashpoints From Just This Week

• Colorado clerks rejected a man falsely claiming White House authority to “inspect” voting machines, calling it a felony power‑grab.

• Minnesota tells DOJ it has no legal right to the state’s voter rolls, rebuffing a sweeping data demand.

• DOJ letters sent to Maryland & Michigan, ordering detailed voter-registration data within 14 days and hinting at investigations if they refuse.

Same tactic, new target: Brand routine election work as “suspect,” then demand extraordinary federal access.

📍Pattern, meet playbook: Texas Redraws the Map

The same drive to seize counting rooms is now being mirrored in the map room, and nowhere is that clearer than Texas. Texas Republicans, buoyed by Donald Trump’s 55% share of the Latino vote in 2024 and his near-sweep of border counties, are pushing a mid-decade redraw aimed at locking in up to five additional GOP seats before 2026. Party leaders insist they’re merely “aligning lines with new coalitions,” pointing to rising Latino support to deflect gerrymandering claims. The counter argument to this being the reality that the draft map still dilutes Black and Latino voting power, cracking diverse metros and packing fast-growing Hispanic suburbs into sprawling rural districts. The rush has sparked intense hearings in Houston, Austin, and Arlington, and legal challenges are already queued up. If Texas succeeds, other red states will copy-and-paste, while blue states eye retaliatory maps of their own.

✨ Some Good News

On July 24, the Supreme Court reinstated a lower-court ruling that struck down North Dakota legislative maps which diluted Native American voting power. The case, brought by the Campaign Legal Center and partners, preserves Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act for now.

Bright America’s Austin Weatherford captured the wider resonance of the win:

“This ruling doesn’t just impact North Dakota or Native Americans —it sends a powerful signal nationwide. It reaffirms the rights of individual voters and communities to challenge discriminatory practices.”

“Perhaps most critically, it reinforces the power of civic engagement and grassroots legal advocacy in defending democracy.”

Strategic litigation still works. Vigilance still matters.

What You Can Do

Protecting elections isn’t just a courtroom fight, it’s civic muscle.

Here’s how to flex it:

• Keep pressure on your state and local officials.

• Support watchdogs with your time, money (if you can), and voice.

• Fund investigative and independent journalism—the truth doesn’t expose itself.

Pause and ask yourself: When the next wave of threats lands on the desk of your county clerk or the poll worker down the street will you stand with them or stay silent?

These neighbors aren’t partisans; they’re stewards of our collective voice. Regardless of your political affiliation and who you support, think twice before echoing attacks that bully people for simply doing their jobs.

Democracy survives when we have each other’s backs, not when we let power-hungry opportunists turn us against one another. Take a moment and decide where you’ll stand. 

This fight is the long game, and I’ll be tracking every move.

— Olivia

📚 Receipts

• Trump tweet, Nov. 4, 2020: American Presidency Project

• “Stop the Steal” rallies coverage: Fox 32 Chicago

• Federalized election regime reporting: Washington Post – July 16, 2025 Investigation

• DHS briefing on voter roll purges: Democracy Docket

• Project 2025 playbook (p. 594): Mandate for Leadership

• Civil rights and DOJ analysis: The Leadership Conference, Brennan Center: Project 2025 Would Fuel the Assault on Election Officials

• Brennan Center Local Election Officials Survey (April–May 2025): Full Report

• Voter confidence & turnout impact study: States United Democracy Center – When Americans Trust Elections

• Colorado clerks reject fake inspector: The Guardian

• Minnesota rebuffs DOJ voter roll request: Star Tribune

• DOJ letters to Maryland & Michigan: Democracy Docket

• GOP eyes rising Latino vote in TX: Daily Punch

• Trump’s gains in border cities: Texas Tribune

• TX redistricting hearings coverage: Spectrum Local News

• SCOTUS win for Native voters: Campaign Legal Center, Bright America Reaction