Voting Rights · Report · File No. 261102-038
ProPublica flags five ways voting could be disrupted on Election Day
With the midterms one day away, the investigative newsroom says federal pressure on elections has raised anxiety and could keep some voters home. Courts have blocked most of the administration's moves so far.
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ProPublica published a guide Monday laying out five ways voting could be disrupted on Election Day, one day before the midterms, as voting experts watch how the Trump administration's efforts to assert federal control over elections play out 1.
Since President Donald Trump retook the White House, his administration has tried to force states to turn over unredacted voter rolls and to restrict mail-in voting, the outlet reported. The Department of Homeland Security has used its resources to identify and prosecute noncitizen voters, it said 1.
Trump has justified these steps by claiming, without evidence, that American elections are beset by fraud and that illegal voting is tipping the scales in favor of Democrats, according to ProPublica 1.
Courts have blocked most moves, but pressure continues
Courts have thwarted most of the administration's plans to date, but Trump and his top deputies have kept up the pressure, the outlet reported. Most recently, they threatened to prosecute election officials who do not reject ballots from people the federal government identified as likely noncitizens 1.
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The administration has not explicitly ruled out sending federal agents to the polls or seizing ballots or voting machines, ProPublica said 1.
Ben Hovland, whom Trump fired as a commissioner for the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission earlier this year, said the administration has been creating noise and doubt. He said he worries this will make voters "sit it out" and "throw their hands up" 1.
A DHS spokesperson told ProPublica in an email that Immigration and Customs Enforcement "is not planning operations targeting polling locations," adding the agency would only arrest people at the polls to address a safety threat as part of "intelligence-driven targeted enforcement" 1.
The DHS and the Justice Department "are laser focused on identifying, prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and dilute the votes of U.S. citizens," the spokesperson added 1.
A Florida episode and a warning from Washington State
In Leon County, Florida, elections supervisor Mark Earley told ProPublica he was "furious" when two marked U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicles parked outside the county's busiest early voting location last month. He reported the sighting to the FBI, then learned the agents, headed out of state, had stopped by to try to vote themselves 1.
It is against the law for federal law enforcement to be near polling places, the outlet reported 1.
Nick Brown, Washington's attorney general, leads a group of Democratic state officials and voting rights advocates who have planned how to respond if there is real federal interference. The group has "war-gamed" how to react if government agents attempt to commandeer voting equipment or ballots 1.
The Justice Department sued California seeking to block the state from counting mail ballots from more than 20,000 voters it claims are likely noncitizens, ProPublica reported. California disputed that claim in a court filing, and a federal judge rejected the department's motion for an emergency order, a decision a federal appeals panel later backed 1.
Late Friday, a federal judge issued a restraining order blocking the department's demands for records from California officials, calling them an "intimidation plan" that would interfere with legal voting, according to the outlet 1.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called a government list of 400 names "not reliable," saying it included U.S. citizens, people who are not registered to vote and duplicate entries 1.
Both parties say they have expanded poll-watching in this pressurized midterm. Republicans will focus on voter eligibility and voter-roll accuracy, according to Ally Triolo, the Republican National Committee's election integrity communications director, while Democrats will concentrate on voter intimidation and other hurdles, said Angelo Fernández Hernández, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson 1.
That matters because the cumulative effect, election experts told ProPublica, has been to ramp up anxiety about the midterms and erode trust in the system 1.
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Sources
- ProPublica, ““Chaos” in the Air: Five Ways Voting Could Be Disrupted on Election Day” (2026-11-02). propublica.org/article/five-voting-disruptions-midterm-elect
- The Hill, “The 5 storylines to watch on Election Day” (2026-11-02). thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6184968-midterm-elections-trum
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