Democrats are gaining ground.
asserted
Democrats → gain → ground
Could Trump still try to curb who can vote?
uncertain
who → try → ?
5 weeks from now, Americans will cast midterm ballots
Five weeks from now, Americans will cast their ballots in the midterm elections to decide who controls Congress, and right now, Democrats have reason to be encouraged.
asserted
Democrats → cast → reason
Some of the key Senate races are unfolding in Michigan, North Carolina, Alaska and Iowa.
asserted
Some → unfold → Michigan
Democrats could gain roughly 20 seats in the House and about four or five in the Senate, according to Charlie Cook, founder of the non-partisan Cook Political Report.
uncertain
Democrats → gain → Report
But the road to election day is anything but settled.
asserted
road → settle → day
As Republicans fight to hold on to Congress, questions are growing about how far the Trump administration could go to shape the election — including the rules around who gets to vote.
uncertain
who → fight → rules
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to use an expanded federal database to check voter rolls, granting President Donald Trump a temporary win in his campaign against non-citizen voting.
asserted
states → clear → voting
So what could the decision mean for the midterms, and what other steps could Trump take before voters head to the polls?
uncertain
voters → mean → polls
Washington correspondents Katie Simpson, Willy Lowry and Paul Hunter take a look at where the midterm races are heating up, what's at stake for Republicans and Democrats, and just how worried Trump might be.
uncertain
Trump → take → Republicans
We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity.
asserted
We → include → length
With all these numbers and polls pointing toward Democrats, I think a lot of people worry, ‘Is Trump gonna push extra hard in other ways to try to salvage a win out of all this?’
asserted
Trump → point → this
A lot of talk centres around whether Trump will claim voter fraud and whether he will take steps to change the way people vote to the benefit of Republicans.
uncertain
people → centre → Republicans
What do you know about that?
asserted
you → know → that
Willy Lowry: He set the scene for that over the summer when he had that primetime address, which raised all of these concerns that the administration had over election integrity.
asserted
administration → set → integrity
Much of them were eventually refuted over the course of the preceding days, but he is already trying to plant the seeds of doubt for sure.
asserted
he → refute → doubt
The Supreme Court, recently, is going to allow something that the administration called for, which is to allow states to use a new system of data that combines citizenship information with social security number and other sensitive data points to try and essentially hunt out illegal voters.
asserted
that → go → voters
But the Supreme Court [is] also ruling against the administration, which was trying to use the postal service to screen ballots after they were submitted by the state election officials.
asserted
they → rule → officials
The Supreme Court's saying [that] introducing new rules around mail-in ballots at this point would have wreaked havoc, sowed chaos, [therefore] denying the administration's request.
asserted
introducing → say → request
Donald Trump has a clearcut history of trying to undermine integrity in elections, so that if there is a result he doesn't like, that perhaps no one believes the result.
asserted
one → have → result
Look what happened after January 6, and he's set himself up to continue that pattern heading into the midterm elections as the polls do not look to be in his favor.
asserted
polls → look → favor
With all of these complicated things that the federal government is trying to do to insert itself into these elections — which as a reminder to Canadians, they are actually run by individual states, not the federal government.
asserted
they → try → states
[So] why would the federal government — or the Trump administration — want these states to have this information?
asserted
states → want → information
It's to possibly knock people off voter registration so that they can't vote or they have to sign up or that maybe they missed their deadline.
uncertain
they → knock → deadline
In one county, in Texas, there is an example where people were erroneously knocked off a voter list.
asserted
people → be → list
Is this the Trump administration trying to make it harder for people to vote, who might not want to vote for the Trump administration?
uncertain
who → try → administration
Is it easier for the Republicans to win should fewer people show up or they're disenfranchised to vote?
asserted
they → win → ?
Is the Trump administration gonna do something by sending ICE agents or military officials to polling stations, which they cannot [legally] do.
asserted
they → go → which
Is Trump losing, or are Democrats winning?
asserted
Democrats → lose → ?
What are Democrats doing to win this thing?
asserted
Democrats → do → thing
This is a moment for the Democrats to try and determine which route they're going to go in 2028.
asserted
they → try → 2028
They've got a slate of really progressive candidates, they've got a slate of more moderate candidates, and depending on the outcome and who can get elected, I think it's really going to be the litmus test for which route they go for candidates to be the presidential candidate in 2028.
asserted
candidates → get → 2028
Also, this is not specific to the Democrats, but it really applies to the Democrats, given the track record of the party over the past decade or so: don't underestimate the ability of a party with a lead to screw up a lead.
asserted
it → apply → lead
The polls may suggest that the Democrats are gonna do very well … but there is so much time, and we don't know whether the Trump administration is gonna have any ability to disenfranchise voters.
uncertain
administration → suggest → voters
Willy Lowry: At this point, the Democrats’ best strategy is a little bit [of] ‘Get out the way and let this all unfold — let the price of gas keep rising.’
asserted
price → get → gas
I don't view it as a vote against Trump, because I think he still holds a really captivating sway over the Republican Party, and yet, it is a vote against his agenda and his policy decisions.
asserted
it → view → agenda
In particular, the U.S.-Iran war — not only was it a betrayal of a campaign pledge to avoid wars, but more importantly, it is having that direct impact on Americans' wallets, and I think that's what this is about.
asserted
this → avoid → what
The Aporia
