UCLA law professor and election law expert Richard Hasen is warning that actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration could threaten the integrity of the 2026 midterm elections, arguing that recent federal decisions are weakening safeguards designed to support free and fair voting.
Election oversight
Speaking with Jonathan Capehart on MSNBC’s The Last Word on Friday, July 10, Hasen criticized a series of administration moves related to election oversight, including changes affecting federal support for state election officials and the recent removal of leadership from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC).
Trump also recently declined to sign the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act after insisting the Senate first pass the SAVE America Act, a measure tied to his election agenda. The housing legislation ultimately became law without his signature after the constitutional 10-day signing period expired. On July 9, Trump removed the remaining EAC leadership, leaving the independent, bipartisan agency without its commissioners just months before the midterm elections.
Hasen told Capehart that “the federal government is the greatest risk that this country faces to free and fair elections in 2026.”
The upcoming midterm elections
With the midterms just four months away, Hasen said, “Just like how Trump has limited the role of the cybersecurity agency, CISA, in helping state and local election officials, this is also limiting the ability of state and local election officials to lean on the strength of the federal government to ensure that we continue to have free and fair elections.”
Asked why Trump remains focused on passing the SAVE America Act, Hasen said, “Well, one possibility is that he really believes that elections are being stolen — I can’t get into Donald Trump’s head. But I also think that maybe the end game here is he knows that there’s a very good chance that he’s going to lose control of one or both houses of Congress come next year and if he’s looking for a scapegoat, he can say, well, you know, ‘We could have saved the elections if Republicans would have just come through and passed this law that would have stopped massive voter fraud.’”
Hasen also warned, “At best, what Donald Trump is doing is sowing doubts about the fairness and integrity of the election. At worst, he’s trying to put a thumb on the scale and change the rules to make it harder for people to register and vote in this very important midterm election season that’s coming up.”
Concern over election results
Looking ahead to November, Hasen expressed concern about how election results could be handled if races are close.
“I don’t think there are going to be ICE agents at the polls, but I do worry in a close election about how he might try to mess with the tabulation of ballots and the certification of winners, which is something that he tried to do back in 2020 when he tried to steal the election from Joe Biden. Yeah, I remember that call to Georgia: ‘All we need is 11,780 votes,’” Hasen recalled.
Former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb echoed those concerns, saying Trump is “stacking every card in the deck that he can get his hands on” to influence the midterm elections. Cobb argued that removing EAC members and installing loyalists in key positions could undermine confidence in election administration.