The White House is working to change electoral rules in its favor. Protectors of democracy must have a counterplan.
The second Trump administration is systematically eroding the institutional foundations of competitive elections without formally abolishing them.
They have a plan to achieve what scholars call “electoral subversion”: changing electoral rules in their favor.
The administration has rewarded those who used violence to disrupt the last transfer of power. It has disabled federal agencies charged with protecting election integrity.
It has moved to extend executive control over voter registration. It has threatened to withhold terrorism prevention funding from states that do not change their voting rules.
Donald Trump continues to claim without proof that the election system is rigged.
This discrediting allows officials to justify changing rules to subvert how free and fair elections will be.
Allied state legislatures have moved to give themselves greater control over election certification. This erodes the independence of electoral monitoring.
The logic of each move is the same: to narrow the field of who votes, who counts and who wins.
In January 2026, Trump told Reuters: “When you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
What Pro-Democracy Groups Must Do
Community organizations must not slow down in their efforts to register and educate millions of voters.
High turnout can make it harder for saboteurs to claim that results don’t reflect the will of the people.
The recent Hungarian election – in which autocrat Viktor Orbán quickly accepted his defeat in a very high turnout election – bears this out.
Fighting the tendency of voters to abstain is crucial.
An intentional side effect of electoral subversion is to convince voters that the system is so rigged that they should not bother to show up.
Large numbers of legal observers and litigators will be needed this fall. In Venezuela, María Corina Machado’s strategy to defeat Maduro involved maximizing polling centers with election watchers.
Pro-democracy groups must begin scenario planning and training early. Response plans need to be based on local threats.
Civil society must prepare for “red line” moments. The people of Minnesota demonstrated this when thousands of federal agents were deployed.
Community, labor, and faith organizations organized a general strike and march of 75,000 people, leading to the withdrawal of federal forces.
There must be strong collaboration between pro-democracy groups and government officials working to ensure free and fair elections.
Election administration officials need support.
The pro-democracy coalition needs to expand its tent. This requires establishing cross-sector relationships with higher education, legal advocacy, business, and faith organizations.
None of this is easy – and there’s not much time before the election.
The administration and aligned election interferers are using their resources to sow confusion, exhaustion and despair.
It’s up to the pro-democracy movement to respond with strategic organizing, savvy coalition-building, and commitment to ensure every vote counts.
