Trump urged to declare emergency to gain control over elections

Pro-Trump activists claiming coordination with the White House are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would allow President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency, citing alleged Chinese interference in the 2020 election.

The emergency would grant the president extraordinary authority over voting, including banning mail ballots and restricting voting machines, Caliber.Az reports via US media.

“Under the Constitution, it’s the legislatures and states that really control how a state conducts its elections, and the president doesn’t have any power to do that,” said Peter Ticktin, a Florida lawyer advocating for the draft.

“But here we have a situation where the president is aware that there are foreign interests that are interfering in our election processes. That causes a national emergency where the president has to be able to deal with it.”

Trump has pushed Republicans to pass the Save America Act, requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration and ID. “President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.

Trump has said that if Congress fails to pass the bill, he will act unilaterally. The draft executive order cites prior emergency powers used to impose sanctions on foreign entities targeting U.S. election infrastructure: “There is now clear and compelling evidence from court cases and forensic analysis that these threats have not been mitigated but instead have intensified. This constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia condemned the plan: “This is a plot to interfere with the will of voters and undermine both the rule of law and public confidence in our elections.”

The draft proposes hand-marked and hand-counted paper ballots, re-registration with proof of citizenship for the 2026 midterms, and limiting mail ballots. It also authorises federal agencies to help identify ineligible voters.

“The conduct of our elections is not for any president to decide. And it must never be manipulated to serve a political agenda,” said the League of Women Voters. “We will challenge any executive action that suppresses voters, undermines free and fair elections, or violates the constitutional framework that protects our democracy.”

A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found 54 per cent of American adults oppose Trump’s proposal for federal control over elections, while 23 per cent support it.

By Aghakazim Guliyev