Showing posts with label federal control of elecitons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label federal control of elecitons. Show all posts

Saturday, May 30, 2026

Trump wants to use the post office to control who votes by mail.: another sneak attack on the Constituion

 Trump wants to use the post office to control who votes by mail. It is: another sneak attack on the Constitution. One of Trump's plans to control federal elections in order to turn a loser into a winner for him is to target mail-in voting, a blatant sneak attack on the Constitution that puts control of elections in the hands of states instead of the federal government... The pretext for this extreme power grab is based on the totally unproven lie that there is " widespread fraud" in mail-in voting or that illegal migrants are voting.  MAGA has swallowed that BS hook, line, and sinker. without questioning. It works for them. 

Update 6/3/2026 per my Facebook post:.Trump's threat to force the post office to screw up mail-in ballots in time for November got a response from the Colorado legislature in a bill Gvo. Polis signed. It would increase the time mail-in ballots can be counted so that if the feds try to play footsie with the post office and take over the November election count, they will face extended time for Colorado clerks to correct. Trump wants the post office to be the arbiter of which mail-in ballots to count...only those on federal registration lists..which do not exist, clearly an unconstitutional act and and a violation of the Constitution, which gives states the power. https://coloradosun.com/2026/05/12/colorado-mail-ballot-elections-change/


There are reasons why this attack on mail-in voting has failed so far. It is an extremely popular voting method among both Democrats and Republicans. Not only is the pretext a lie with no proof, but it's also a sneak attack on another unconstitutional attempt to use his executive orders to gain federal access and control over voter rolls and who votes.  

Trump has already tried to get states to turn over the personal details of those on their lists. like driver's licenses and social security numbers. It is pretty obvious why this is important to Trump's turning a predicted election against him into a victory for him by such underhanded methods. Twenty states have refused. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/trump-administration-has-sued-more-20-states-refusing-turn-over-voter.  He has tried to force them to do so by depriving them of the federal funds they need, among other pressure tactics.

One reason Trump fears mail-in voters is to force in-person voting so he can intimidate with armed ICE at a swing polling place. If those who fear they will be harassed, they can vote by mail. They can also avoid in-person mailing by dropping ballots off in designated places, and that one does not even require stamps. Another reason is that it gives Trump access to more personal data than state lists contain, so he can target those who support him or oppose him with individualized suppression/support methods, from TV ads to targeted scare-tactic mail to attempts to kick off and challenge those with certain last names, especially Hispanic, off the lists that are unjustified.  Like Trump's unevidenced lawsuits (no proof, just theories), the attempt alone creates a burden on voters to fight it, even if he loses in court. 

He also tried to get the SAVE Act passed. It is better known as "show me your citizenship papers to get registered," and unrealistically limits what kinds of papers would be accepted. That act also included a clause prohibiting universal mail voting, requiring all mail voters to submit an application to receive a mail ballot. The SAVE Act was killed in the Senate on March 23, 2026, because it suppressed both Republican and Democratic voters.

Here is why universal mail ballot systems are so secure and why Trump would love to get it under his thumb.

This anti-universal mail-ballot clause is essentially what the abuse of the post office would accomplish under Trump's executive order. Eight states, including Colorado and the  District of Columbia, have this universal system. For the horrified: everyone gets a ballot mailed to them; a potential cheater, FYI. Just getting a ballot sent to you because you appear on a state registration list does not mean it is counted in the vote totals, whether the ballot is returned by mail, dropped off at a secure official box, or at a polling station. That is, because county and state election officials only count ballots in totals from registered voters on their rolls when they scrutinize mail-in ballots they receive. They compare handwriting signatures on the ballots and other data with state data and a voter's signature on record at the state, gotten when the voter registered.  Modern computerization makes this possible.  No wonder Trump would like to get his hands on those state rolls. He could throw the entire election process into chaos and lo delay well after election day.   While this attempt to pass SAVE failed in Congress, he is trying to back door it with an executive order to have the post office only to accept a voter on a FEDERAL voting roll to which he does not now have full access, nor is there a complete one with all data from all the states that exists. 

So, let's try it another way: he proposes, by executive order, that the post office accept ballots only from those on federal voting lists, not only on state voting lists, but FEDERAL ones. Let's see how far that gets by judicial scrutiny.  My guess is he is not fooling the justices either: it is just another unconstitutional method he can use to subvert the outcome of elections he fears will not go his way.

ttps://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/postal-service-trump-attack-mail-voting-proposed-rule/

Here is where Colorado fits into Trump's unconstitutional subversion scheme: https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2025/04/trumps-power-grab-includes-federalizing.html


Monday, August 18, 2025

Trump's newest attack democracy's rule by people via a vote: ban mail in ballots and voting machines

 Trump to ban mail-in ballots and voting machines in executive power play

This is one more attack on federalization of voting to give an advantage to "his" voters, in addition to watering down racial minority representation in Congress through a mid-decade gerrymander in Texas. in time for the 2026 November midterms. Colorado is in the bullseye. Colorado is nearly 100% mail-in voting, though physical polling places are still available.   Colorado is also the one place where Trump's minion got caught listening to his "secure the voting machines", and giving a Trump loyalist the codes as she locked them away.. She, Tina Peters, is now sitting in federal prison for that one. A few other instances were reported, similar to taking orders from Trump instead of the state election officials, but the real danger is federal control of the voting process. This is one example of Trump's wish list. He seems determined to abuse voters and control the outcome of elections in his drive to act like a dictator, just like Putin does. There are reports that Trump is being coached by Putin himself.(New York Times report) , The fundamental difference between a dictatorship and a democracy is that the voters//people control who governs them in a democracy, and in a dictatorship, the form of a ballot box may exist or not, but the dictator controls who votes and how they are counted. One person, one vote is the ideal, honestly and freely.  Since 2020, Trump and his loyal minions still claim the 2020 elections were stolen and after 5 years of trying, no evidence has ever been found. Charges of Dominion voting machines being messed with got FOX millions in punishment in liable verdicts. Now Newsmax also gets hit with a $67 million settlement for lies about Dominium. The only people in jail for tampering with voting machines are Trump loyalists, and Tina Peters is the poster lady for that one..

Trump wants paper ballots filled out at a polling place.. Guess what: Colorado's votes are all on paper ballots. and voters have a choice: fill out the paper ballot or drop the ballot at a polling place in person, return ballots filled out by mail, or put them in a secure drop box. Only 2-6% of voters choose to cast their votes in person at a polling place. Everyone gets a ballot mailed to them who is registered to vote. Thanks to computer technology, cheaters voting twice can be caught instantly. Election officials compare signatures on returned ballots as verification and counting to catch forgeries. The value of using paper ballots no matter if mailed, dropped off, or at a polling place, get to the county clerk; audits. Paper ballots filled out at home is so convenient; Colorado has one of the best voter turnout percentages in the nation. At home voting also gives voters a chance to give thought and do a bit of research if they have questions. It makes for a better-informed voter. If there is a close election, the paper ballots are there to verify they were tallied correctly and signatures match the signatures on record.. The attempt to claim the tabulation method,, running the paper ballots through a scanning machine, and in other states, voting on a machine, and claim the company Dominion system fixed the 2020 eleciton cost both Fox( $787 million) and Newsmax enormous settlements in defamation suitsfor lying The newest to feel the loss: Newsmax, $67 million. By having each state separately being in charge of elections,it is hard for a foreign hacker or a domestic dictator to make a difference in a federal election. Individual states are in charge of elections per the Constitution. In Colorado, county clerks count the ballots coming from their county, and tabulations are reported to the Secretary of State using their own separate secure system and not on the internet, another layer of protection from hackers.



Newsmax agrees to pay $67M in defamation case over 2020 election claims | AP News



https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08/18/us/trump-news?smid=nytcore-android-share


From a prior blog post: Update 5/6/2025: Trump demands that Peters be released from prison as his federal government tries to interfere with state and local court decisions. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Colorado is being singled out by Trump's DOJ trying to validate conspiracy theories

. https://coloradosun.com/2025/05/06/tina-peters-donald-trump-social-media-post/

Update on the Tina Peters trial: 9 years for criminal election interference. She was defiant to the end, no remorse. A true MAGA soldier, a true believer who was loyal to Trump but not to democracy and the Constitution. Her conviction should serve as a warning to other election officials who try to interfere with the count, as the Trump campaign appears to be planning to do in 2024 as they did in 2020.  The rule of law still prevails.  Prior post of the case of interest: MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Update on the Tina Peters trial: 9 years for criminal election interference


Felicia Muftic is a former Denver elections official.