Nov.01

electoral-vote.com

Dem 53

Ties 1

GOP 46

The Line Must Hold, Part II: Election Protection

Recall that when Donald Trump tried desperately to steal the presidential election of 2020, the best and most effective line of defense was the court system, where he lost over and over again. As (L) demonstrates in the item above, the courts are holding firm so far in 2026.

That said, other entities are gearing up to defend democracy, as needed. Much remains unclear, since those who are playing defense can keep their cards close to the vest until the last moment. Still, here's a rundown of some of the things that ARE known:

• Senate Democrats: This is the embodiment of close-to-the-vest. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has put together an election-protection task force that includes nine of his Democratic colleagues. They meet regularly to discuss various election-interference scenarios, coming from both within the U.S. and without, and to plan out how to deal with them. They are reportedly locked and loaded for a wide variety of scenarios, including federal agents at polling locations, ballot seizures in key battleground states, and foreign interference operations. Somewhere, Will Rogers is smiling.
  
  
• The Blue States: Democratic states are clearly loaded for bear. A bunch of them, led by California, passed laws this year meant to protect polling places from outside intrusion. They also have state AGs who are champing at the bit to go after the Trump administration, and who have already been hard at work making sure that voters and poll workers know exactly how the law works, and exactly what to do if the law is broken. See, for example, this press release from California AG Rob Bonta. It is further clear, even if they are not saying so openly, that blue-state governors are ready to call upon National Guard troops, if necessary.
  
  
• The Red States: We've noted this a couple of times, but while red states might be friendly to Trump on policy, they are largely not friendly to him when it comes to mucking around in elections. Some of the GOP-run states have cooperated in terms of handing over lists of voters, some haven't, but nearly all of them are leery of federal interference in the actual voting process. After all, conservatives are supposed to believe in limited government. There have already been plenty of indications that the red states are ready to fight back, perhaps just as hard as the blue states. To take one red, red state example, Gov. Mark Gordon (R-WY) has instructed state AG Keith G. Kautz to be ready to push back against "aggressive" behavior from the feds.
  
  
• Civil Rights Groups: The Trump administration has announced plans to send 1,000 election observers to polls. The White House has not explained why, but it's obvious the point is to intimidate some voters and keep them from voting. Civil rights activists hate these kinds of stunts, so they already have multiple thousands of observers who will be on-site at key polling locations, to make sure the laws are observed. Those observers will be backed by an army of lawyers, who will be ready to head to court and ask for an injunction at the drop of a hat. Or a jackboot.
  
  It is also worth noting that there are something like 100,000 polling places in the U.S., such that the administration's shock troops are going to be spread mighty thin. And, of course, the 50 million+ ballots that have already been cast are beyond their reach.
  
  
• Other Groups: There are literally hundreds of other groups working to safeguard elections, either on a local or national level. Reader K.M. Williamsburg, VA did us the favor of compiling a list of the most important election-monitoring groups:

  The Carter Center: Perhaps the foremost election-monitoring organization in the world, having kept an eye on over 125 elections in over 40 countries since its founding in 1989.
  
  OSCE/ODIHR (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights): Another organization with international reach, one that has been keeping an eye on U.S. elections for much of the Trump era.
  
  Election Protection: This is the largest U.S.-centered election-monitoring and voter-assistance group. If a voter has a problem, their first call should probably be to Election Projection at 866-OUR-VOTE.
  
  Campaign Legal Center: Also U.S.-centered, and focused on election administration, voting rights, and election integrity issues.
  
  National Conference of State Legislatures: They don't monitor elections, but they do provide lots of good nonpartisan information about election laws, including the specifics of observer rules and election administration.

  These are the famous ones, but they are also the tip of the iceberg.

The bottom line is that the Trump administration has so clumsily telegraphed its intentions, for so long, that there is an enormous resistance, for lack of a better word, that has had plenty of time to plan and is ready to go. And the resistance is run by much smarter people. (Z)