In March, Trump issued an executive order of dubious legality to mandate prospective voters provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. The executive order “calls for the Election Assistance Commission to require people to show government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, and directs state or local officials to record and verify the information,” along with “requir[ing] states to count ballots by Election Day.” Legal experts have cast doubt on the executive order’s legality, and a federal judge in June blocked most of the key provisions of the order, writing in a decision that “the Constitution does not grant the president any specific powers over elections.” In August, Trump called for voter ID for “every single vote,” claiming, “I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!” [The New York Times, 3/25/25, 3/26/25, 6/13/25, 8/31/25]

In March, Heather Honey, now DHS’ deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, reportedly “suggested that the new administration could declare a ‘national emergency’ and justify dictating new rules to state and local governments” related to voting and elections. The New York Times reported that during a “call with right-wing activists in March,” Honey suggested a national emergency “could be based on an ‘actual investigation’ of the 2020 election if it showed there had been a ‘manipulation’ of the vote.” “Therefore,” she argued, “we have some additional powers that don’t exist right now” and “can take these other steps without Congress and we can mandate that states do things and so on.” [The New York Times, 10/22/25]

Honey is one of “multiple proponents” of Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims who The New York Times reports Trump elevated “into high-level administration jobs.” Prior to Honey's appointment to DHS in August, she was “a leader” in the “right-wing election activist movement that emerged” after Trump “falsely claimed that his 2020 defeat was the result of widespread fraud.” According to the Times, Honey “echo[ed] rhetoric that has infused” that movement during a call in September with state election officials. [The New York Times, 10/22/25]

At an event for right-wing website The Gateway Pundit, former Trump attorney Peter Ticktin said he “wouldn’t be very surprised” if there’s “an emergency called” before the next election, claiming that “it's necessary.” Ticktin, an attorney with a history of spreading election fraud claims, said at a conference organized by The Gateway Pundit, “I wouldn’t be very surprised if we find out before the next election that there’s kind of, be an emergency called,” with which “we’re going to be able to turn the tide.” Ticktin also said, “I don’t have it on good authority that this is going to be done, but a number of people are urging it because it’s necessary.” [Media Matters, 7/9/19, 6/16/22, 7/15/22; The Gateway Pundit’s Vindicated conference, 8/23/25]

Podcaster Joe Oltmann, who refused to provide evidence in court of his claims that the 2020 election was rigged, said that Trump’s election-related executive orders “are permissible in states of national and foreign emergencies.” Responding to a social media post suggesting Trump’s proposed voter ID executive order violated the Constitution, Oltmann wrote, “Supremacy clause, and state of emergency. EO are permissible in states of national and foreign emergencies.” [Colorado Public Radio, 7/31/25; USA Today, 9/5/24; Twitter/X, 8/31/25]

Conrad Reynolds, who is part of an initiative to get rid of voting machines, said, “We are encouraging the president to declare a national emergency right now on this issue.” According to Little Rock Public Radio, Reynolds “thinks Arkansas voting machines could be flipping votes” and runs an organization focused on “getting rid of voting machines” in favor of paper ballots. He was charged with electioneering over the issue. While appearing on a podcast, Reynolds said: “We have a national emergency. That's what this is. And we are encouraging the president to declare a national emergency right now on this issue.” He added that “if we don’t get this right, I'm telling you the midterms are not going to be good, and we need to fix it right now.” [Little Rock Public Radio, 11/4/24, 10/10/25; The State of Freedom, 9/16/25]

During a call on “election integrity” on a Florida GOP official’s podcast, VoterGA’s Garland Favorito said that Trump “can execute his National Emergency Act powers” to supposedly protect elections. CNN reported that Favorito has “a long history of promoting debunked conspiracy theories” and a “penchant for pushing election misinformation.” During the podcast, Favorito said that Trump could “execute his National Emergency Act powers” in order to ensure that election systems “comply” with federal law, adding, “I believe that he’ll do that.” [CNN, 10/9/24; ProPublica, 10/16/24; Stern American, 9/18/25]

Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn during a podcast appearance: “The only way that we’re going to have a fair federal election is if” Trump “declares ... some sort of a national emergency.” Flynn, who urged Trump after the 2020 election to seize voter machines and who Trump has since appointed to the board of visitors for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, said on a podcast that “there’s all kinds of fraudulent activity and behavior” in elections, meaning that “the only way that we’re going to have a fair federal election is if the president of the United States declares ... some sort of a national emergency and says for federal elections,” there will be “picture ID”, “no mail-in ballots,” and “on election day, we do ... basically a paper count.” [The New York Times, 1/31/22; Reuters, 3/17/25; Conversations in Energy with Stuart Turley, 10/14/25]

David Clements, who has spread claims about election fraud, said that Trump should use “plenary authority” to stop “a digital invasion and a digital rebellion taking place.” Lawfare reported in 2024 that Clements had “criss-crossed the country to evangelize about purported election fraud,” and The Washington Post reported in 2022 that he was “traveling the country trying to persuade local leaders to withhold certification of election results.” During an interview on a right-wing YouTube channel, Clements and his wife Erin discussed supposed ways to fix “rigged elections,” with Clements arguing that it’s necessary to “start looking at Title 50, Article 2 power, a national security framework for Trump to really be in a position where he’s not asking. He’s ordering. He’s telling you,” and that “even people like Peter Ticktin … have come to the same conclusion.” Clements added that Trump has to “be able to declare things from a framework of plenary authority, meaning he’s not ... relying on the legislature that’s been captured to come in and codify what he’s saying,” and that he believed Trump was “prepared to do that.” [Lawfare, 10/31/24; The Washington Post, 9/8/22; Media Matters, 6/14/23; YouTube, 10/20/25]

Jerome Corsi, who previously worked for conspiracy theory network Infowars, said that a “national security emergency will allow Donald Trump to make sure that the elections in 2026 are secure even if we have to go to extreme measures and get the military involved.” Corsi also has a long history of producing false research, helped popularize the QAnon conspiracy theory, and was instrumental in pushing the lie that former President Barack Obama has a fake birth certificate. [NPR, 3/2/23; Media Matters, 1/8/18, 11/13/18; Stern American, 9/18/25]

Jerome Corsi has repeatedly claimed that he and Peter Ticktin have been involved in the drafting of a Trump executive order “to be implemented for the 2026 elections.” During appearances on the podcasts Stern American and Nino’s Corner, Corsi claimed that he and Ticktin had been involved with a “17-page draft of an executive order” that would “declare a national security emergency” and includes “steps the states will be required to take in order to make sure the elections are secure.” Corsi has also claimed that Trump “can use his Article 2 powers as commander in chief and have the military run the elections if he had to.” In October, Corsi claimed to have been “briefed” that the order was “expected to come down the next couple of months and to be implemented for the 2026 elections.” [Stern American, 7/14/25, 9/18/25, 10/8/25; Rumble, 9/2/25, 10/22/25, 10/22/25]

Corsi said the executive order would be “based on our research” and would target voter rolls, mandate voter ID, and require proof of citizenship to register to vote. Corsi said the order would “stop using all existing voter rolls, stop using all existing computers that handle those voting rolls, that we go to voter ID and proof of citizenship for new registrations, and that that proof of citizenship demand the ability to make sure someone is a citizen before they be allowed to vote.” [Stern American, 7/14/25, 7/30/25]

Ticktin has also acknowledged Corsi’s involvement in targeting voter rolls. Ticktin, in a call on “election integrity” on the Stern American podcast, said of proving that the “voter rolls have been corrupted”: “We’ve got certain people. There’s Jerome Corsi, who’s been very involved in this. We’ve got Andrew Paquette, who really was the one that was on the forefront of all of this.” [Stern American, 9/18/25]