{"id":3321,"date":"2026-02-16T08:57:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/?p=3321"},"modified":"2026-02-16T08:57:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:57:04","slug":"the-effort-to-impact-election-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/the-effort-to-impact-election-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The Effort to Impact Election 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Republicans have a lot to worry about in the upcoming 2026 election.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/republicans-look-set-get-wiped-out-2025-2026-opinion-2105842\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Historically<\/a>, the party that controls the White House takes an electoral pasting in the mid-terms. Given the current\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/13\/us\/politics\/congress-house-republicans-majority.html\">razor-thin majority<\/a>\u00a0that allows the Republicans to control the House, a November vote consistent with the historic record of most mid-term elections could flip it back to Democratic control.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A House controlled by Democrats would be a big headache for the President on multiple fronts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the President\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/polls-donald-trump-this-week-11523714\">weak and worsening polling&nbsp;numbers<\/a>, last year he concocted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2025\/08\/07\/trump-republicans-redistricting-texas-indiana\/\">scheme<\/a> to boost Republicans\u2019 electoral chances with a call for red states to approve mid-decade changes to Congressional lines to boost Republican chances of victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That effort has largely <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/redistricting-congress-trump-gerrymandering-3fb3be89325032c9cd9695918c07090a\">fizzled<\/a> since Democrats responded with their own redistricting campaigns to boost their chances in blue states. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/articles\/democrats-trump-redistricting-push-backfiring-130037193.html\">outcome<\/a> has been largely seen as a wash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week, the House Republican leadership advanced a new effort to impact the 2026 election. The House approved, with the President\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/house-passes-save-america-act-trump-backed-election-bill-rcna258614\">support<\/a>, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/house-bill\/22\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act<\/a> which, if it were to become law, would require proof of citizenship for people to register to vote at a state level for federal elections and mandates that voters show a form of photo ID when voting on election day or when requesting a mail-in ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While most Americans think that\u2019s a good idea in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/crk845r4vlyo\">abstract<\/a>, the actual details and likely impacts of the legislation have not been adequately aired or debated. For example, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/bipartisanpolicy.org\/article\/five-things-to-know-about-the-save-act\/\">Bipartisan Policy Center<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAlthough at least one of these documents are in theory available to most citizens, not all voters have them readily available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cdce.umd.edu\/sites\/cdce.umd.edu\/files\/Who%20Lacks%20Documentary%20Proof%20of%20Citizenship%20March%202025.pdf\">Nearly one in ten eligible voters<\/a>\u00a0do not have, or do not have easy access to, documentary proof of citizenship.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/playingwithelectiondata.substack.com\/p\/so-much-to-say-about-pres-trumps\">More than half\u00a0of registered voters<\/a>\u00a0do not have an unexpired passport with their current legal name.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/playingwithelectiondata.substack.com\/p\/so-much-to-say-about-pres-trumps\">And over 10 percent\u00a0of registered voters<\/a>\u00a0do not have access to their birth certificate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, as the Bipartisan Policy Center further noted, \u201cbirth certificates often lack information that matches a person\u2019s current identity. For instance, someone who has changed their name through marriage or court order may need to present a third document (such as a marriage certificate) to join their proof of citizenship\u2026Even if voters were to provide documentary proof of citizenship, verifying the authenticity of those documents is an inherently complex task, one that election officials and motor vehicle departments often do not have the resources or training to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These concerns are echoed by other nonpartisan groups, from the Brennan Center for Justice, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/our-work\/analysis-opinion\/new-save-act-bills-would-still-block-millions-americans-voting\">argued<\/a> that the House bill would \u201cBlock Millions of Americans From Voting,\u201d to the League of Women Voters, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lwv.org\/save-act\">noted<\/a> \u201cIt is already illegal for noncitizens to register and vote in federal or state elections. [The SAVE America Act] simply creates another barrier to voting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cproblem\u201d that the SAVE America Act is supposed to \u201csolve\u201d is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/how-widespread-is-election-fraud-in-the-united-states-not-very\/\">false claim<\/a> that there is widespread voter fraud in the nation. <a href=\"https:\/\/electionlab.mit.edu\/research\/voting-mail-and-absentee-voting\">Report<\/a> after <a href=\"https:\/\/electioninnovation.org\/research\/one-year-since-january-6\/\">report<\/a> have shown that it is simply not true that there is a significant problem with fraudulent voting and that it alters the results of elections. In fact, leading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2020\/11\/13\/21563825\/2020-elections-most-secure-dhs-cisa-krebs\">experts<\/a> have argued that the nation\u2019s elections are secure. Requiring voters to jump through verification \u201choops\u201d does nothing more than deter citizens from voting during a time when increased voter turnout should be encouraged.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/5732146-senate-filibuster-rule-thune\/\">filibuster<\/a> rule of the U.S. Senate, it is doubtful that the SAVE America Act will be taken up. But one never knows for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The House\u2019s approval comes close on the heels of the President\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/does-president-trump-have-the-authority-to-nationalize-voting\/\">discredited call<\/a> for the Congress to \u201cnationalize\u201d voting, his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/02\/13\/trump-congress-voter-id-midterms.html\">plan<\/a> to issue an executive order on voting identification, and an \u201cunusual\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/elections\/fbi-state-election-officials-unusual-briefing-midterms-rcna257721\">meeting<\/a> called by the FBI to meet with state elections officials right after its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/10\/us\/politics\/fulton-county-kurt-olsen-fbi-search-2020-ballots.html\">raid<\/a> to seize 2020 election data stored in the state of Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Add the redistricting effort to the constant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/02\/22\/politics\/fact-check-trump-cpac-2025-election\">lies<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/fact-checking-trumps-false-claims-about-voter-fraud-and-rigged-elections\">propaganda<\/a> around the fictitious theft of the Presidential election in 2020 and it\u2019s not hard to see a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/opinion\/trump-cancel-elections-voting.html\">pattern<\/a>; one of a possible strategy to undermine the results of the <em>2026<\/em> election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Americans live in a democracy. Casting a ballot should be secure and as easy as possible.&nbsp;The SAVE America Act does little more than suppress voter participation for the millions of Americans who may not have the documentation required. Here in New York \u2013 where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysenate.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/admin\/structure\/media\/manage\/filefile\/a\/2024-02\/586_ny_state_constitution_-_generic_version2.pdf\">voting is a constitutional right<\/a> \u2013 we should expect House members who supported this measure to provide verifiable proof of a substantial problem that justifies their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The nation deserves free and fair elections in 2026, <em>not<\/em> one that has been undermined by our elected officials in Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans have a lot to worry about in the upcoming 2026 election.\u00a0Historically, the party that controls the White House takes an electoral pasting in the mid-terms. Given the current\u00a0razor-thin majority\u00a0that allows the Republicans to control the House, a November vote consistent with the historic record of most mid-term elections could flip it back to Democratic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3322,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321\/revisions\/3322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}