From the NYT, two stories on the Trump administration’s latest antics in connection with the upcoming midtern elections. The first concerns a threat from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deny states tens of millions in federal funds if they don’t transition to paper ballots, verify voter citizenship, and make other changes to election procedures:
The Trump administration is requiring states to change the way they conduct elections or risk losing tens of millions of federal terrorism-prevention funds, in its latest move that would make voting harder and undermine trust in results that don’t go President Trump’s way….
FEMA, part of the Homeland Security Department, has told states that it would withhold 20 percent of some terrorism-preparedness grants unless they provide “proof of compliance” with the election security measures, the documents show….
Courts have already blocked similar efforts by the administration to require changes to voting, saying the Constitution grants power over elections to states and not the executive branch.
The second involves letters from DOJ threatening to prosecute election officials in at least 11 states if ballots cast by noncitizens are counted:
The letters arrived in the midst of an ongoing campaign by President Trump and his allies to tighten election rules to prevent a problem that doesn’t exist: widespread noncitizen voting in American elections.
The effort has, however, continued to sow doubt and distrust in the electoral process, most notably among the president’s base of supporters. And his proposals could have the effect of making it more difficult for eligible voters to cast their ballots — an outcome that many voting-right activists say is the president’s real goal.
The letters sent on Tuesday came from Harmeet Dhillon, who runs the Justice Department’s civil rights division. They are largely identical, according to multiple copies obtained by The New York Times. The seven-page letters detail a host of federal election laws that prohibit noncitizens from voting in elections — laws that have been clear for decades….
The letters asked the election officials to respond to the Justice Department “within five days” with details on how their states intended to comply “with these federal laws both at the state and local level and how the Department can assist in those efforts.”
The story quotes Dave Becker, former DOJ lawyer now at the Center for Election Innovation and Research, who sums it up perfectly: “This is what panic and desperation looks like.”