Ahead of next week’s midterm elections, President Donald Trump has systematically demolished institutional guardrails that prevented him from overturning the 2020 presidential election, ProPublica’s reporting has shown.
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reporting → demolish → election
Trump has empowered his loyalists to try to transform the voting process.
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Trump → empower → process
He launched an unprecedented — and largely unsuccessful — effort to find noncitizen voters.
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He → launch → voters
And he tried to restrict mail-in voting.
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he → try → voting
Our reporters have spent much of this year covering Trump’s efforts to exert more federal control over elections.
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reporters → spend → elections
The Trump administration has sought greater federal control over elections.
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administration → seek → elections
In April, Doug Bock Clark and Jen Fifield reported on Trump’s efforts to “take over” the midterm elections, detailing how the administration has discarded or diminished endeavors across the federal government to protect the voting process or block foreign interference.
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administration → report → interference
Those efforts have included cutting staff on election-related teams at federal law enforcement agencies and finding ways to exert greater federal control over voting.
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efforts → include → voting
Our reporting led by Peter Elkind revealed that the Trump administration harnessed Homeland Security Investigations’ personnel, technology and legal authority to try to back up Trump’s unproven claim that illegal voting by noncitizens is tilting elections toward Democrats.
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voting → lead → Democrats
Administration officials insisted the effort spearheaded by HSI was producing meaningful results.
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effort → insist → results
Our analysis of Justice Department data found, as of May, 41 alleged noncitizens were charged with voting illegally or other election-related crimes.
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noncitizens → find → voting
Earlier this month, CBS reported 156 people have been charged since the beginning of the second Trump administration.
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people → report → administration
As part of that effort, the Justice Department has demanded states turn over unredacted voter rolls, which contain confidential information on millions of Americans and have historically been managed by states.
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which → demand → states
Since September 2025, the department has sued 30 states and the District of Columbia for the confidential data.
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department → sue → data
Wary of federal overreach, state officials — including some Republicans — have fought back, and so far every DOJ lawsuit that’s been decided by a federal judge has been dismissed.
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that → include → judge
(The Trump administration has appealed most of its losses to federal appeals courts and has said it will consider taking its fight to the Supreme Court.
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it → appeal → Court
A Justice Department spokesperson said its “attorneys are skilled, principled advocates who argue every case honestly and in good faith.”
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who → say → faith
In a March executive order, Trump instructed the U.S. Postal Service to create new regulations for mail voting.
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Trump → instruct → voting
The rules would have put the Postal Service in the unprecedented role of deciding whether to send or deny the delivery of voters’ mail-in ballots.
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rules → put → ballots
The Supreme Court in September blocked the rules, at least until after November.
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Court → block → November
The Trump administration has said its actions will make U.S. elections fairer and more secure — and keep those prohibited from voting, such as noncitizens, from doing so.
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elections → say → noncitizens
Spokespeople for the DOJ and Department of Homeland Security emphasized that their departments are focused on ensuring elections are free and fair, and that they are working closely with the states to achieve those goals.
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they → emphasize → goals
Contentions to the contrary, they say, are false.
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they → say → contrary
Trump has pushed out career officials — and is coordinating with a conservative grassroots organization to transform elections.
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Trump → push → elections
At least 75 nonpartisan career officials who’d held roles at federal agencies related to election integrity and safety have been fired or left the government.
Two dozen Trump appointees — including many from the election-denial movement — have been hired.
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appointees → hold → movement
Ahead of the midterms, current and former government officials and election security experts have expressed concerns that once-fringe actors who’ve espoused debunked conspiracy theories about elections are now in positions to control the narrative around the voting process.
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who → express → process
(A DHS spokesperson said it hires “experts with diverse backgrounds who go through a rigorous vetting process.”)
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who → say → process
At least 25 administration appointees have close ties to Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who leads Election Integrity Network, a grassroots conservative group focused on transforming America’s voting system.
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who → have → system
This month, Clark profiled Mitchell — and detailed how, despite not holding a formal role in the White House, she’s played a key role in shaping the Trump administration’s elections agenda.
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she → profile → agenda
The White House has appointed her associates to help hunt for noncitizen voters and investigate accusations of voting fraud in 2020.
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House → appoint → 2020
(Mitchell declined multiple requests to speak with ProPublica, but wrote in an email: “You’re my opponent. …
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You → decline → email
You’re never going to write in any objective, non-judgmental way about the election integrity movement.”)
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You → go → movement
Help Us Report on Key Election Issues
ProPublica’s reporters are on the lookout for what’s going right and what isn’t.
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what → help → lookout
We’re monitoring voter suppression and interference, election observers and poll watchers, extremism tied to the election, and ICE activity at the polls.
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We → monitor → polls
Have you seen something?
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you → see → something
Mitchell, who played a role in helping Trump challenge his loss in the 2020 presidential election, has been leading efforts to pass state and federal iterations of the SAVE Act.
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Trump → play → Act
The 2026 version of the bill, known as the SAVE America Act, would require voters nationwide to provide proof of citizenship to register and present a photo ID to vote, and would compel states to turn over their voter rolls to DHS.
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version → know → DHS
Trump has repeatedly called the measure his top legislative priority, but it has been blocked in the Senate.
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it → call → Senate
In July, Trump also pushed out the remaining members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, a four-member board designed to be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats that sets standards for state voting systems.
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that → push → systems
(At the time, a White House official wouldn’t confirm the moves but said the president “reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted.”
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vote → confirm → elections
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
