Election denial has gone mainstream in the U.S. What does that mean for the midterms?
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that → go → midterms
County clerks prepare to fend off election denial movement empowered by President Trump
Early on a Wednesday morning in October, a dozen people gathered in a wood-panelled room in Barry County, Mich., to be trained as poll workers for the U.S. midterm elections.
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people → prepare → elections
During the three-hour session, they were taught how to operate a vote-tabulating machine, check photo IDs and process absentee ballots.
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they → teach → ballots
But before the session began, Sarah VanDenburg, the clerk in this rural county, thanked them for "helping preserve our democracy."
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VanDenburg → begin → democracy
As the clerk of Barry County, Sarah VanDenburg is responsible for staffing polling stations on election day.
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VanDenburg → staff → day
The 2026 midterms are taking place while an election denial movement, empowered by President Donald Trump, has spent months claiming these otherwise routine tasks are the source of rampant fraud.
And even though there is little evidence to support these claims, they’re being used as a pretext by election deniers — many now in positions of authority — to try to interfere in the voting process.
Trump himself has mused openly about invoking a national emergency measure to alter how votes are counted.
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votes → take → measure
President Donald Trump greets Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican candidate for Senate, left, on stage during a campaign rally in Port Huron, Mich., on Oct. 25.
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Trump → greet → Oct.
In Barry County, sheriff Dar Leaf has emerged as the loudest voice pushing conspiracies about how elections are run.
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elections → emerge → conspiracies
For the past six years, he has been using his office to circulate claims that foreign nationals hacked voting machines in the county in 2020 to switch votes from Trump to Joe Biden.
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nationals → use → Biden
More recently, Leaf has been trying to interrogate state election officials as part of a new investigation into claims Michigan’s voter rolls for the 2026 midterms are being deliberately inflated with non-citizens, even though studies have shown non-citizen voting is extremely rare.
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voting → try → citizens
"I have a duty to go out and investigate, and I'm not gonna back down," Leaf told CBC News during an interview at sheriff headquarters in Hastings, Mich.
VanDenburg says she tries to maintain a good working relationship with the sheriff, but his beliefs "can make things difficult."
I have a duty to investigate, sheriff says
Leaf is a prominent figure in the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, which believes sheriffs have ultimate authority in their county and has encouraged
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sheriffs → have → county
"It's just getting the sheriffs woke up to what their duties are really supposed to be," Leaf said about the association.
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Leaf → get → association
Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, seen here at a 2024 Trump campaign event, said he would consider seizing ballots during the midterm elections.
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he → see → elections
With help from his own deputies, Leaf tried to seize several voting machines in the county in 2021 and 2022 to prove his theory, only to be rebuffed by a judge and prosecutor who determined his claims had no merit.
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claims → try → merit
In an unprecedented move last year, another member of the group, California sheriff Chad Bianco, seized 650,000 ballots from the 2024 election to probe claims of irregularities.
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member → seize → irregularities
A court ruled the seizure unlawful and ordered the ballots returned.
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ballots → rule → ?
But the prospect of ballots, or voting machines, being seized by pro-Trump officials has alarmed elections observers, who worry such manoeuvres could disrupt oversight and make it difficult to verify results.
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it → seize → results
Asked if he would consider seizing ballots, Leaf told CBC News, "I would have to have a good reason to seize them.
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I → ask → them
We'd probably seize and then go get a court order."
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We → seize → order
When election deniers are in charge
For decades, the U.S. Department of Justice monitored local compliance with federal election laws.
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Department → monitor → laws
But under Trump, election deniers now occupy senior positions in the department, which has aggressively sought evidence to support the president’s claims of widespread voter fraud.
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which → occupy → fraud
For instance, the department is battling 30 states for access to sensitive voter information as part of an effort to find evidence of non-citizen voting.
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department → battle → voting
Earlier this year, the FBI seized ballots in Fulton County, Ga., from the 2020 election.
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FBI → seize → election
The Justice Department said it was investigating 'irregularities that occurred during the 2020 presidential election in the County,' even though Georgia’s votes in the 2020 presidential race were already counted three times.
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votes → say → race
Each count affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s win.
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count → affirm → win
The FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have also been tasked with investigating voter fraud, even though most studies suggest it's a rare phenomenon.
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it → task → fraud
Trump has used the premise of widespread voter fraud to justify his attempts to have the White House exert more control over elections and rewrite rules in his favour.
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House → use → favour
Since returning to power, he has ordered the U.S. Postal Service to restrict mail-in voting and pushed Congress to pass a voter ID law that would have made it harder for millions of Americans to vote.
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millions → return → Americans
But the Constitution gives states, not the president, authority over elections.
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Constitution → give → elections
And courts, so far, have upheld that principle.
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courts → uphold → principle
Can Trump call a national emergency?
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Trump → call → emergency
The failure of these efforts, combined with polls suggesting the Republican majorities in Congress are in jeopardy, has led some in the election denial movement to urge Trump to take even more drastic measures, such as calling a national emergency.
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majorities → combine → emergency
Proponents of the measure argue voting machines are so vulnerable to foreign hacking that an emergency would be warranted on national security grounds.
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emergency → argue → grounds
In an interview with Time magazine published earlier this month, Trump was asked about the possibility of declaring a state of emergency.
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Trump → publish → emergency
"I don't rule anything out or in," he replied.
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he → rule → anything
Lorenzo Sewell, a Detroit pastor with ties to the Trump administration and several Republicans in Congress, said calling a national emergency would allow the president to order states to stop using vote-tabulating machines and halt mail-in balloting.
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president → say → balloting
Pastor of 180 Church Lorenzo Sewell delivers a benediction after President Donald Trump was sworn in at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025.
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Trump → deliver → Jan.
"But in terms of getting something like this, he needs people.
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he → get → people
He needs another January 6th, and that's what I'm advocating for, minus the violence," said Sewell, who spoke at Trump’s second inauguration and the Republican convention this summer.
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who → need → inauguration
Many legal experts say the idea is unconstitutional and almost certain to be blocked by the courts.
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idea → say → courts
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
