Trump has denied considering a national emergency around the 2026 midterms. A circulating draft, however, has renewed attention on the constitutional limits of presidential power over state-run elections.
The central issue raised by a 17-page working document reviewed by PBS News is not simply how ballots would be counted. It is who has the authority to set those rules.
The Constitution makes states responsible for administering elections, while Congress has a limited role in regulating federal elections. A draft circulating among some of President Donald Trump’s allies imagines a national-emergency declaration that could expand federal involvement in voting procedures for the 2026 midterms.
Trump told PBS News that he is not considering such a declaration. The document is not an announced White House policy, and a White House official said staff members regularly hear policy ideas from outside advocates.
State authority is at the center of the dispute
States run elections, and a president does not have a general constitutional power to take over state election administration by executive order. PBS reported that experts said a proposal like the circulating draft would likely face an immediate court challenge.
Max Flugrath, a spokesperson for the left-leaning voting-rights group Fair Fight Action, said in a statement that a president cannot seize control of state-run elections through an emergency declaration because, in his view, no statute permits it.
Peter Ticktin, a lawyer who has known Trump for decades, took a different view in comments to PBS. He said presidents can respond when they believe foreign powers are interfering with the country and pointed to the National Emergencies Act.
That argument addresses a president’s ability to declare an emergency in some circumstances. It does not, by itself, resolve whether emergency authority could override state election rules.
Trump says he is not considering a declaration
Asked by PBS News about the proposal, Trump said he was not considering declaring a national emergency tied to the midterms. His answer means there is no confirmed presidential decision to use the document’s approach.
Ticktin told PBS that the draft had circulated among some Trump supporters “for a while.” He said he had discussed the issue with Trump and with people at the White House and Justice Department, though he declined to identify them.
A White House official told PBS that speculation about what the president might eventually announce remained speculation. The available reporting does not establish whether the draft is an outside proposal, an option being considered or a document with limited influence.
What the working document proposes
According to PBS, the draft presents alleged foreign interference as the basis for declaring a national emergency. It hypothesizes that such a declaration could permit the president to take control of some voting mechanisms.
The document contemplates requirements for hand-marked paper ballots, ballots counted by hand in public, voter re-registration through county offices and proof of citizenship for voters in the 2026 election.
- Ballots: Ballots would need to be hand-marked on paper.
- Counting: Votes would be counted by hand in public.
- Registration: Voters would re-register through their counties and provide proof of citizenship.
- Federal action: A national-emergency declaration would be the proposed basis for expanded federal involvement.
PBS also reported that officials were encouraged to consider the federal SAVE database, operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to check voter files for citizenship status. The database is used by government agencies for benefits-related verification.
Related election policies are already being contested
The draft arrives after Trump’s March 2025 executive order seeking to add proof-of-citizenship requirements to federal voter-registration forms. PBS reported that the order prompted multiple lawsuits that remain in court.
The Republican-led House also passed the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration and impose stricter voter-identification requirements. PBS reported that the measure’s prospects in the Senate were uncertain.
In a Truth Social post cited by PBS earlier in the month, Trump wrote that there would be voter identification for the midterms “whether approved by Congress or not.” He also called for citizenship requirements and restrictions on mail voting, with listed exceptions.
Thirty-six states already require some form of identification at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The dispute over the draft concerns who may impose nationwide rules and whether a president could do so through emergency authority.
Officials are preparing for the midterms
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said the reported draft should concern Americans across party lines and described it as an attempted federal seizure of election administration.
Meanwhile, PBS reported that more than 100 election officials joined a call about preparation for the November midterms. Representatives from the Election Assistance Commission, the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, the Postal Service and the FBI participated.
Participants told PBS that ICE agents would not be stationed outside voting locations. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she had not heard Trump discuss a formal plan to place ICE outside polling places, though she did not offer an absolute guarantee about where agents might be in November.
For now, the confirmed position is narrower than the proposal itself: Trump says he is not considering an emergency declaration, while the draft has highlighted a potential clash between federal emergency power and state control of elections.
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