Democratic leaders and voting rights advocates across California and the nation are ramping up coordination and gaming out responses to potential actions by the Trump administration to subvert or interfere with upcoming elections. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer convened nearly a dozen senators behind closed doors for the second in a series of tabletop exercises examining scenarios that could disrupt the vote.
The closed-door sessions, prompted by a primetime address on election integrity delivered by Donald Trump, tested institutional and local responses to prospective election-day disruptions. These scenarios included AI-generated videos designed to spread disinformation, alongside the potential deployment of National Guard troops or immigration agents near polling places in red states such as Texas.
“We have to prepare for it,” Schumer told MS NOW following the session. “What these so-called tabletop exercises teach us is when you’re prepared in advance, you can stop a lot of bad, bad things from happening, a lot of the stealing that he will do.”
### Local Law Enforcement and Federal Overreach
During the Senate tabletop sessions, participants evaluated practical measures local authorities could enact if federal personnel were stationed near voting sites. Schumer outlined potential coordination models involving municipal and county law enforcement agencies in Texas cities.
“What we would do is work with the local Houston Police Department, Dallas Police Department, Bexar County, San Antonio Police Department and figure out ways to stop this ahead of time,” Schumer said.
Marc Elias, a longtime Democratic election lawyer who participated in the closed-door briefing, emphasized that the exercises were designed as a pragmatic response to prior disputes over vote certification and post-election rhetoric following the 2020 presidential cycle.
“What we’re doing is preparing for the fact that Donald Trump, in 2020, lied about the election in advance, lied about it in the aftermath, went to court and then he instigated a violent insurrection in this very building,” Elias told MS NOW, referencing the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “So I think we need to take these threats in the 2026 midterm run-up both seriously and literally.”
### State-Level Opposition from Democratic Governors
Parallel to congressional planning, the 24 sitting Democratic governors organized a unified response through the Democratic Governors Association. Led by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, serving as DGA chair, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the vice chair, the coalition issued a joint statement condemning ongoing challenges to election administration.
“It’s deeply alarming that President Trump continues to try to undermine free and fair elections,” the governors stated. “No amount of lies and conspiracy theories can change the fact that our country’s elections have repeatedly been proven to be safe and secure. These attacks are intended to intimidate and silence voters.”
“Democratic governors stand ready to fight back against the Trump administration and stop any and all unlawful attacks on every American’s constitutional right to vote,” the statement added.
### Constitutional Framework and Legal Boundaries
Under the U.S. Constitution, the authority to set the time, place, and manner of federal elections rests with individual states. Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who directs the Safeguarding Democracy Project, has noted that the president lacks the legal authority to cancel or postpone a federal election.
Despite constitutional limitations, voting rights organizations and legal experts note that administrative pressure, localized confusion, and targeted litigation remain distinct challenges. Ari Mittleman, executive director of Keep Our Republic, an organization focused on election trust that operated independently from the congressional exercises, pointed out that systemic disruption often relies on generating operational uncertainty rather than direct administrative cancellation.
