President Donald Trump is once again under scrutiny for moves critics say are designed to tilt future elections in his favor.
From attempting to federalize local elections to openly entertaining a third term, many are raising red flags.
Executive Order and Elon Musk
Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order aimed at increasing federal oversight of state and local elections.
The order proposed that billionaire Elon Musk and investor David Sacks be involved in overseeing election systems.
Progressive commentator Kyle Kulinski called it a “five-alarm fire,” warning that under the guise of efficiency, the real goal could be to “purge the ballots of names that sound like more minority names, like Democratic voter names.”
Most of that executive order has since been struck down by the courts, but Kulinski noted that Trump’s past behavior shows he often ignores legal limits.
DOJ Pressuring Election Officials
According to the New York Times, the Trump administration is exploring ways to criminally charge local election officials if they fail to meet federal cybersecurity standards.
Justice Department lawyers are reportedly reviewing whether these failures could be treated as “criminally negligent mismanagement.”
Critics say this tactic is about intimidation, not election integrity.
The Times reported there is no new evidence to justify these actions, only Trump’s repeated, disproven claims of voter fraud.
Suppressing Democratic Votes?
Kulinski argues that Trump and his allies are also pushing old voter suppression methods: getting rid of mail-in ballots, rejecting votes that arrive on time but are processed late, and reviving laws that let individuals challenge others’ right to vote.
He said these tactics are being framed as efforts to improve efficiency, but in reality, they are about rigging the game.
“They want to get rid of electronic voting completely. They, like I said, want to revive old school, uh, Jim Crow rules that allow people to challenge ballots of random people, and then it defaults to throwing those ballots out,” he said, adding that voter purges and ballot challenges have long been used to disproportionately impact Democratic voters.
He cited investigative journalist Greg Palast, who believes these tactics caused Kamala Harris to lose millions of votes in the last election.
Palast claimed she actually earned enough votes to win over 285 electoral votes.
Third Term Talk
Trump has also repeatedly floated the idea of serving a third term, something the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibits.
A group of loyalists known as the Third Term Project is actively pushing to amend the Constitution to make this possible. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) introduced a resolution to extend the presidential term limit from eight to 12 years.
At the CPAC conference, some supporters displayed posters portraying Trump in Roman-style robes, suggesting his leadership should continue into 2028 and beyond.
Organizers of the Third Term Project argue that if there is enough public support, Trump should be allowed to continue in office.
Critics, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have dismissed these efforts, pointing out that Trump lost the popular vote by millions in 2020 and warning that such talk represents a broader move toward authoritarianism.
Kulinski also referenced Trump’s efforts in 2020 to stay in office despite losing, including the use of fake electors, pushing baseless fraud claims, and pressuring officials like Mike Pence.
He warned that these past tactics make the third-term talk all the more concerning.
A Troubling Pattern
Sanders has consistently warned that recent actions by the administration reflect a slide toward authoritarianism.
He has pointed to Trump’s lawsuits against major media outlets, efforts to strip funding from public broadcasters, and foreign policy choices that have weakened U.S. alliances as signs of a troubling pattern.
While the question of whether these developments qualify as election theft remains contested, many observers believe the warning signs are becoming impossible to ignore.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.