U.S. President Donald Trump, with the November U.S. midterm elections ahead, made remarks that appeared to leave open the possibility of declaring a "national emergency," fueling concern among American political circles and voting-rights groups.
On the 23rd (local time), the Guardian in the United Kingdom reported that the Trump administration has recently released a series of documents and materials questioning the fairness of U.S. elections. This has prompted voices inside and outside American politics asking whether the federal government is laying the groundwork to intervene more deeply in election administration.
Earlier, on the 16th of last month (local time), President Trump argued in a nationally televised address at the White House that U.S. elections are vulnerable to foreign interference. At the time, U.S. intelligence agencies assessed that there was no evidence China manipulated the 2020 presidential vote results.
After these remarks by President Trump, figures close to him began to publicly mention the possibility of declaring a national emergency. Steve Bannon, who served as chief strategist in Trump's first White House, predicted on his podcast "War Room" on the 29th of last month that President Trump would declare a national-security emergency to protect the election.
President Trump did not deny the possibility. In an interview released on the 11th of this month with the right-wing outlet "Real America's Voice," he was asked whether he would be willing to declare a national-security emergency over the election and answered, "I'll just say this. Stranger things have happened in this world. I'll leave it at that." In effect, he left the door open to declaring a national emergency.
The Guardian reported that when asked about the possibility of an executive order declaring a national emergency related to the election, the White House said it would not answer hypothetical questions but did not rule out the possibility. President Trump and the ruling Republican Party are currently pushing the "Save America Act." The core of the Save America Act is to strengthen citizenship verification during voter registration and to require the presentation of a photo ID when voting.
Amid this, the Democratic Party and voting-rights groups are preparing for various scenarios. They are reportedly reviewing response plans for several possibilities, including the spread of disinformation using artificial intelligence (AI) and the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at polling places.