{"id":903687,"date":"2026-11-02T22:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T22:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/903687\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T22:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T22:16:19","slug":"bipartisan-former-election-officials-warn-that-trump-administrations-demands-ahead-of-2026-midterms-risk-intimidating-election-officials-and-disenfranchising-eligible-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/903687\/","title":{"rendered":"Bipartisan Former Election Officials Warn that Trump Administration\u2019s Demands Ahead of 2026 Midterms Risk Intimidating Election Officials and Disenfranchising Eligible Voters"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 A bipartisan group of 18 former election officials from key states, represented by States United, today filed an amicus brief<\/a> in SEIU v. DOJ, a case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding the Trump administration\u2019s recent demands and threats of criminal prosecution against election officials. The brief explains how these demands\u2014in the midst of an ongoing election\u2014are unprecedented, intimidate officials, seek to upend existing procedures, and risk disenfranchising eligible voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cState and local election officials are the people who make our democracy work. They will ensure every eligible voters\u2019 voice is heard in this year\u2019s midterms. But they should be able to do this work without threats, political intimidation, or federal interference,\u201d said Mai Ratakonda, an Election Protection Program Director at the States United Democracy Center. \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing from the Trump administration right now is not normal. It\u2019s part of a broader effort to undermine trust in our election process so they can cast doubt on, challenge, or interfere with any results they don\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The brief highlights the Trump Administration\u2019s pressure campaign against state and local election officials and a pattern of undermining trust in our elections. It calls on the Ninth Circuit to protect election officials from the federal government\u2019s unwarranted pressures and intimidation, which put election administration at risk and could disenfranchise eligible voters in this year\u2019s midterm election.<\/p>\n

\u201cFederal officials have historically worked alongside state and local election officials to enforce election laws\u2014not threatened them with prosecution simply for doing their jobs,\u201d said Samantha Trepel, Rule of Law Program Director at the States United Democracy Center. \u201cJust days before voters head to the polls, the Trump administration is using the threat of criminal prosecution to pressure election officials to change how they run elections. States run elections in this country. These actions have no place in our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key excerpts from the brief:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis campaign\u2014during which the federal government has provided no evidence of widespread error or wrongdoing by election officials\u2014has led to an unprecedented uptick in harassment and threats against election workers at the most critical and busiest time of the election cycle. What is more, federal and state law prohibit the changes that federal officials demand, placing election workers in a bind between potentially violating state and federal law or facing the prosecutorial power of the federal government. We therefore urge the Court to ensure the federal government does not pressure election officials into departing from settled procedures in the midst of an election, based on fears of threats and prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe increased federal pressure and threats on election officials that precipitated this case are part of a pattern by the administration of attempting to assert authority over elections and questioning the integrity of state and local officials. In our collective experience as election officials, we have never seen such a concerted fixation by the federal government on election workers through letters, subpoenas, press conferences, and social media posts, threatening them with imprisonment if they do not accede to certain demands. Through our contacts with those who still are on the front lines, we know these threats create an environment of fear and extreme concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pattern we see today \u2026 creates an unacceptable risk that election officials will cave to constant pressures to abandon governing procedures, yield to the administration\u2019s demands, and possibly disenfranchise eligible voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Signatories of the brief include:<\/p>\n

Pam Anderson, former City Clerk of Wheat Ridge, CO, and Jefferson County, CO, Clerk and Recorder
\nTina Barton, former City Clerk of Rochester Hills, MI
\nKaren Brinson Bell, former Executive Director of the NC State Board of Elections
\nKathy Boockvar, former PA Secretary of the Commonwealth
\nMary Estill Buchanan, former CO Secretary of State
\nEdgardo Cort\u00e9s, former VA Commissioner of Elections and Head of the Dept. of Elections
\nJoan Growe, former MN Secretary of State
\nPhil Keisling, former OR Secretary of State
\nEdward Lindsey, former GA State Election Board member and Fulton County Election Board member
\nPatty Hansen, former Recorder of Coconino County, AZ,
\nKathy H. Holland, former Director of the Alamance County Board of Elections and President of the NC Association of Election Directors
\nRyan Macias, former voting system staff for CA Secretary of State and Acting Director of the Voting Systems Testing and Certification Program at the United States Election Assistance Commission
\nJennifer Morrell, CEO and co-founder of The Elections Group
\nTammy Patrick, former Federal Compliance Officer of Maricopa County, AZ
\nChris Piper, former Commissioner of the VA Department of Elections
\nMiles Rapoport, former Connecticut Secretary of State
\nKathy Rogers, former GA State Elections Director
\nWilliam Senning, former VT Director of Elections<\/p>\n

Read a summary of the amicus brief here<\/a>. Learn more about public opinion on federal interference in elections here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

About the States United Democracy Center<\/p>\n

States United is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the rule of law and free, fair, secure elections. We provide direct support to state officials and law enforcement leaders as they uphold the law and our system of checks and balances, protect public safety, defend elections, and preserve our democracy. For more information, visit statesunited.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 A bipartisan group of 18 former election officials from key states, represented by States United,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":903688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-903687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/903688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}