Donald Trump’s push for a stronger federal role in election rules has revived a fundamental question: how much can a president direct a system administered largely by states? A reported draft proposal is not policy, but it points to the voting fights likely to continue before 2026.
Donald Trump has pursued efforts to expand federal control over U.S. elections, including Executive Order 14248, signed March 25, 2025. A 17-page draft proposal would give the president extraordinary power over election administration for the 2026 midterm elections, but Trump says he is not considering it, and the effort has faced constitutional and legal resistance from state and local election officials and courts.
The dispute matters because the draft’s ideas could reshape voting rules across the United States, even as the Constitution leaves the day-to-day administration of elections chiefly to the states. Before 2026, the practical fight is likely to center on what federal power can actually accomplish.
A draft goes far beyond policy
PBS News reported reviewing a 17-page working document that had circulated among some Trump allies. It envisioned a president declaring a national emergency over alleged foreign interference and then ordering major changes to the conduct of the 2026 midterms.
The measures described by PBS included nationwide hand-marked paper ballots, public hand counts, voter re-registration through counties, documentary proof of citizenship and voter-identification requirements at polling places.
Those are not minor adjustments to a federal form. They would reach into systems operated by thousands of state and local election offices, from the rules voters encounter to the staffing and procedures used on Election Day.
Trump told PBS that he was not considering a national-emergency declaration around the midterms. The White House said outside advocates routinely bring policy ideas to administration officials and warned that speculation about possible announcements remained speculation.
Why states hold the key
Election administration in the United States is decentralized by design. States have the central constitutional role, while Congress can regulate aspects of federal elections.
That does not give a president open-ended authority to replace state election systems with federal directives. A national-emergency declaration can activate particular powers Congress has enacted, but it does not independently create authority to make states rewrite election procedures.
This division is the central obstacle for any broad federal takeover proposal. A president could advocate changes, use executive-branch tools where authority exists or seek legislation, but would still confront the constitutional role of state governments and the limits set by statutes.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, called the reported proposal a threat to election administration and said states would resist efforts to take control of their systems. Her response reflects concern that even an unadopted plan can add pressure to local officials and deepen public distrust in elections.
The court fight is already underway
The reported draft emerged after Executive Order 14248, which Trump signed on March 25, 2025. According to PBS, that order sought to reshape federal election-integrity policy, including by adding proof-of-citizenship requirements to federal voter-registration forms.
Multiple lawsuits challenging that order were still moving through the courts at the time of PBS’s report. Their importance extends beyond whether one requirement takes effect: the cases could address whether the executive branch has authority to impose such requirements in the first place.
Voting-rights advocates and election-law specialists cited by PBS said an attempt to seize control of state-run elections through an emergency declaration would quickly draw legal challenges. Max Flugrath of Fair Fight Action said there is no statute that permits a president to take control of state-run elections by declaring an emergency.
A competing view came from Peter Ticktin, an attorney and longtime Trump acquaintance who confirmed the document had circulated among supporters. He told PBS that a president may act during an emergency involving foreign interference. Even under that theory, the proposal would have to overcome the limits of election law and constitutional federalism.
Voter ID remains a separate battle
Trump has said he wants voter ID in place before the 2026 midterms, writing on Truth Social that it would happen whether Congress approved it or not. Yet voter identification is not governed by one uniform national rule.
Thirty-six states already require some form of identification at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, as cited by PBS. The details differ sharply: some states accept a broad range of documents, while others impose stricter photo-ID rules or allow voters without identification to cast provisional ballots.
That variation shows the distance between a presidential demand and a nationwide operating rule. A federal requirement would need a valid legal basis, cooperation or implementation by election administrators, and a path through anticipated court challenges on a tight timetable before 2026.
The dispute over proof of citizenship carries similar tension. Critics say documentary requirements may burden eligible voters who do not readily possess documents such as a passport or birth certificate. Supporters call citizenship verification a necessary safeguard against unlawful voting. Evidence of widespread noncitizen voting affecting national election outcomes has not been established, though the issue remains politically powerful.
Congress offers another route
The administration’s options are not limited to executive orders. PBS reported that the Republican-led House passed the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration and tighten voter-ID rules.
Its prospects in the Senate were uncertain. That uncertainty matters because legislation, rather than an emergency declaration, would provide a more direct route for Congress to exercise its authority over aspects of federal elections.
Trump and his allies portray their election agenda as a security response to foreign influence and fraud. Opponents see it as an effort to centralize authority over voting rules that have historically been decentralized, potentially using unproven claims or emergency language to justify the shift.
The political arguments will continue, but the decisive questions are institutional: what authority Congress has granted, what authority remains with states, and whether an emergency declaration can change either answer. Courts would determine those questions, not campaign messaging.
What may change before 2026
The immediate result is unlikely to be a presidential takeover of election administration. The circulating draft has not been adopted, and Trump has said he is not considering it.
Still, the underlying agenda may advance through narrower executive actions, agency guidance, lawsuits, congressional bills and pressure on state officials. Trump could continue pushing for voter ID, citizenship documentation, paper ballots and limits on mail voting.
States, meanwhile, can adopt, reject or challenge specific changes under their own laws. Federal courts may be asked to rule on both the March 2025 executive order and any later federal action.
For voters, the key distinction is between a proposal and a binding rule. The broader fight before the 2026 midterms is likely to test not only individual voting requirements, but also who has the power to set them.
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