--- title: How Trump Could Interfere With the Midterms on Election Day, and the Days After description: Here’s how the Trump Administration could potentially interfere in each step of the election process—and how states are preparing to fight back. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/ author: Philip Wang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-10-28T11:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-28T11:00:15.371Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Trump Could Interfere With the Midterms on Election Day, and the Days After og:description: Here’s how the Trump Administration could potentially interfere in each step of the election process—and how states are preparing to fight back. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7018cc7158663b5/6ae0e429ac57f93da03d356f/GettyImages-2301367067.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2301367067.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Trump Could Interfere With the Midterms on Election Day, and the Days After twitter:description: Here’s how the Trump Administration could potentially interfere in each step of the election process—and how states are preparing to fight back. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7018cc7158663b5/6ae0e429ac57f93da03d356f/GettyImages-2301367067.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Trump Could Interfere With the Midterms on Election Day, and the Days After > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7b83f83d-932b-4147-98ed-a722fa3fe2f5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Twice a week | time.com/newsletters, September 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * D.C. Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7b83f83d-932b-4147-98ed-a722fa3fe2f5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/subscribe?i=7b83f83d-932b-4147-98ed-a722fa3fe2f5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's politics newsletter? D.C. Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7b83f83d-932b-4147-98ed-a722fa3fe2f5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Oct 28, 2026 11:00 AM UTC  President Donald Trump wears an "I Voted" sticker after voting in the midterm elections on Oct. 24, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Florida. President Donald Trump wears an "I Voted" sticker after voting in the midterm elections on Oct. 24, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Brendan Smialowski—AFP via Getty Images  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Oct 28, 2026 11:00 AM UTC Listen 00:001.0x06:56 Narrated by TIME AI. With less than a week until Election Day, the Trump administration is ramping up efforts to shape the outcomes, prompting concerns that the midterm elections could face [unprecedented interference](https://time.com/article/2026/10/07/top-nevada-official-election-trump-DHS-DOJ-noncitizens-voting/) by federal authorities. In recent days, Trump officials have sued to potentially [block the certification](https://time.com/article/2026/10/24/trump-thinks-alaskans-could-vote-for-the-wrong-sullivan-what-can-the-doj-do-/) of a Senate race in Alaska, threatened election officials in California [with jail time](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-threatens-california-officials-with-imprisonment-over-stance-mail-ballots-2026-10-17/), and [implied](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/6174248-tina-smith-democrat-trump-minnesota-midterms-election/) that the outcome in a Senate race in Minnesota couldn’t be trusted if the Republican didn’t win. Trump’s allies have also been urging the President to potentially take drastic measures, including declaring martial law to seize ballots. Election officials in dozens of states are preparing for a wide range of possible interference on Tuesday when millions of voters will cast ballots, as well as in the days that follow as the votes are counted, the final batches of mail-in ballots come in and the election outcomes are certified. The prospect of so many challenges has led to intense efforts by voting rights groups, election officials and teams of lawyers to be ready to respond to election meddling anywhere in the country. Here’s how the Trump Administration could potentially interfere in each step of the election process—and how state and local officials, and various outside groups, are preparing for each scenario: # Polls open for in-person voting Election workers are preparing for possible federal interference both inside and outside polling places on Tuesday. Over the past few months, officials from the Trump Administration have given [vague](https://www.facebook.com/CSPAN/videos/fbi-director-kash-patel-suggested-tuesday-he-was-open-to-sending-federal-agents-/1081483964269252/) [answers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKYPGlIzh2A) when asked if the Administration might try to deploy federal agents to the polls. Federal laws [explicitly](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title18/html/USCODE-2024-title18-partI-chap29-sec595.htm) [prohibit](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title18/html/USCODE-2024-title18-partI-chap29-sec592.htm) military or federal officials from stationing troops or armed men where elections are held in an attempt to interfere with a federal election. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine [assured](https://apnews.com/article/caine-hegseth-trump-military-polling-voting-elections-98a06a37abf19613a0922a7e9359e999) a Democratic senator in late August that the military had “no plan” to be deployed to polling locations during the midterm elections. Yet Trump has declined to rule out measures such as declaring a federal emergency on Election Day or sending ICE agents to the polls, telling TIME in [an interview](https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/donald-trump-2026-interview-transcript/) in September that he didn’t “rule anything out” at this point. At least [three](https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/LULAC-v-DHS.pdf) [lawsuits](https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1-1.pdf) have been [filed](https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1-2026-09-18-Complaint.pdf) to preemptively block ICE agents from being deployed to polling sites on Election Day. According to one of the lawsuits, at least one county sheriffs’ office in Colorado has already been cooperating with ICE and conducted “warrant checks at polling locations” this year. Along with the prospect of ICE agents conducting immigration enforcement, election officials have also expressed concern that the federal government might try other ways to disrupt polling places, citing voter fraud allegations as a premise. For months, the Administration has been involved in a legal fight with dozens of states over allegations that noncitizens are on their voter rolls. Election experts say voter fraud is incredibly rare. In some local communities, there are indications that federal agents showing up at polling locations could sow chaos at the polls. Virginia’s Arlington County stated in [its preemptive legal filing](https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1-1.pdf) against federal agents at the polls that the county had developed plans regarding “whether and how to make arrests, and any prosecutorial response or civil legal actions that might be necessary.” “Arlington has never before needed to prepare for these threat scenarios,” the filing adds. When reached for a statement, the Arlington County government says the local police department remains in contact with election officials and is prepared to respond to any reported incidents. # Polls close and ballot counting begins As polling stations close Tuesday evening, local election officials and voting rights groups are bracing for the prospect of federal officials possibly seizing election materials and voting machines. In January, the FBI raided the Fulton County election office in Georgia and seized election materials in connection with the 2020 election. In May, a federal judge ruled that the federal government could continue to [retain](https://apnews.com/article/trump-2020-election-fulton-county-fbi-ballots-1c425a1d1d04bf4ea2178c2a5443f2e9) the ballots. The FBI has not announced any wrongdoing stemming from the investigation. “The lesson of Fulton County was that you have to be ready to be in court literally in minutes,” Norm Eisen, the executive director of Democracy Defenders Action, tells TIME. Eisen has been working closely with voting rights groups as well as local and state election officials in multiple states to prepare for any federal interference in next week’s elections. That includes being ready to immediately file lawsuits as soon as any federal officials try to seize any ballots or voting machines. Other legal scholars are also encouraging judges to consider alternative solutions if federal authorities seek to retain election materials. Rick Hasen, a law professor and director of UCLA’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, published a [white paper](https://law.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/PDFs/Safeguarding%5FDemocracy/Judicial%5FGuide%5Fto%5FSearch%5FWarrants.pdf) urging judges who might see warrant applications for ballot seizure to consider ordering copies of the ballot to allow the election certification process to continue. # Waiting for the last batches of mail-in ballots Many mail-in votes won’t arrive until days after Election Day. Some will be from members of the military stationed overseas. The fight over who can receive mail-in ballots, and which mail-in ballots should be counted, has been underway for most of Trump’s second term. In March, President Trump signed an executive [order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/ensuring-citizenship-verification-and-integrity-in-federal-elections/) requiring states to work with the United States Postal Services to establish lists of verified voters and asking USPS to withhold mail ballots from anyone not on the lists. The executive order was quickly met with a flurry of lawsuits, which resulted in a preliminary [injunction](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73133197/285/league-of-women-voters-of-massachusetts-v-trump/) blocking the USPS from enforcing any new rules in response to Trump’s order. But election officials are still preparing for the possibility that some federal officials may try to get in the way of mail-in ballots being counted. On Monday, the DOJ asked the state of Washington to [not count](https://www.facebook.com/usaowdwa/videos/2272058220305521/) ballots from more than 400 voters whom it suspects to be noncitizens, as [more than 1 million](https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/data-research/election-data-and-maps/ballot-return-statistics) ballots have already been cast. Even with the federal effort on hold, state governments have pressed ahead with new rules that are already pushing ballot rejection rates higher. In North Carolina, the State Board of Elections [implemented](https://www.wral.com/news/nccapitol/absentee-mail-ballots-rejected-higher-percentage-state-board-of-elections-stein-october-2026/) a new rule that requires voters to use at least three different envelopes to deliver their ballots and copies of their ID. Failure to seal any of the three envelopes would result in the ballot being rejected. So far, the state is already seeing an uptick in the ballot rejection rate compared to the previous election cycle, from 2.6% to 3.1% statewide, according to [local](https://www.wunc.org/politics/2026-10-21/josh-stein-in-person-voting-governor-rejection-rate-for-mail-in-ballots) [media](https://abc11.com/post/vote-2026-preliminary-data-show-spoiled-absentee-ballot-rate-rises-north-carolina/19966044/) outlets. ## Certifying the election results After all the votes are tabulated, county officials will begin certifying the election results. Although each state has its own rules on raising and resolving a challenge from county officials, certifying the election results is a mandatory duty. According to the Campaign Legal Center, if an official delays or refuses to certify results, state officials and courts can step in to compel certification. State officials can also pursue criminal or civil penalties to hold local officials accountable. On Thursday, the Justice Department preemptively [sued](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.akd.80263/gov.uscourts.akd.80263.1.0%5F1.pdf) the state government of Alaska to block the certification of its closely-watched Senate race if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses to Democrat [Mary Peltola](https://time.com/6209054/alaska-native-mary-peltola-sarah-palin/). The department accused the state of failing to “protect the integrity of the election” by allowing independent candidate Dan J. Sullivan on the ballot. “The DOJ attempting to intervene at this late stage is entirely against department policy, as there is no legitimate enforcement of federal law here, and it raises serious concerns about political interference,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research. “I cannot recall an administration ever attempting to stop the certification of an election — and certainly not 11 days before polls close.” Various election officials expect that Alaska won’t be the only state that says a certification challenge. During the 2020 election, President Trump sought to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to undo the state’s certification of Joe Biden’s win and “find 11,780 votes”—the number needed to overturn his loss in Georgia. Trump’s allies also led a pressure campaign, meeting with lawmakers in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona in an attempt to overturn the election results, according to the investigation by the bipartisan January 6 [committee](https://www.congress.gov/event/117th-congress/house-event/114877/text). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/"},"headline":"How Trump Could Interfere With the Midterms on Election Day, and the Days After","datePublished":"2026-10-28T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-28T11:00:15.371Z","description":"Here’s how the Trump Administration could potentially interfere in each step of the election process—and how states are preparing to fight back.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/","keywords":["Explainer","Trump Administration","elections","Midterm Elections"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7018cc7158663b5/6ae0e429ac57f93da03d356f/GettyImages-2301367067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Wang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/philip-wang/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7018cc7158663b5/6ae0e429ac57f93da03d356f/GettyImages-2301367067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-2301367067.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/explainer/","name":"Explainer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/","name":"How Trump Could Interfere With the Midterms on Election Day, and the Days After"}}]}] ```