As the 2026 Midterm Elections approach, there are numerous warning signs from election denialists and other skeptics of developments that may threaten Americans’ freedom to vote. One recent example occurred in Fulton County, Georgia, where FBI agents raided the county’s elections office and seized hundreds of boxes of 2020 election materials, including physical ballots, ballot images, and voter rolls. The unprecedented federal seizure of state-controlled election records has raised concerns about federal overreach and the security of election infrastructure.

Against this backdrop, rhetoric calling for greater federal control over elections has grown more explicit. Notably, President Trump recently suggested on a podcast that the Republican Party should “nationalize” elections. Article I of the US Constitution provides that the “times, places, and manner” of elections for senators and representatives are set by each state’s legislature. The Supreme Court has interpreted this provision as states having the primary authority over matters such as voter registration, election administration, fraud prevention, and the counting of ballots, among other responsibilities. Congress may pass federal regulations, but the federal government may not “take over.” How the president would “nationalize” elections and what policies would be enacted remain unclear. Even Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, rejected the idea, calling federalizing elections a “constitutional issue” and signaling just how extreme—and legally fraught—such proposals are.

A bill that may give us insight is the SAVE Act, a bill that would require documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) to register to vote. This would mean voters would likely have to provide either a passport or birth certificate, disenfranchising 21 million US citizens who do not have immediate access to a birth certificate and nearly 170 million US citizens who do not have a passport, the two primary forms of DPOC. Furthermore, as one’s name must match that on the document, this may impact nearly 70 million married women who changed their last name. The bill has stalled in the Senate for now, lacking the required number of votes needed to pass.

Similar bills have been introduced this congress. These include Rep. Bryan Steil’s Make Elections Great Again Act, a sweeping proposal that would restrict mail voting and impose a nationwide photo ID requirement, and Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Chip Roy’s SAVE America Act, which pairs a strict voter photo ID mandate with provisions requiring DPOC to register to vote.

Taken together, these developments underscore a broader effort to centralize control over elections and impose new barriers to voting, under the guise of election integrity. While many of these proposals are unlikely to become law, they signal the policy priorities of election denialists and raise serious questions about the future of elections and Americans’ ability to cast their ballot.

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