This Essay was posted on 2/18/2026.
With low polling numbers, Republicans could be left without majorities after the 2026 elections, but elections don’t always go for the popular candidate. Gerrymandering and voter suppression provide ways to defeat an otherwise popular candidate.
Elections attorney Marc Elias offers a 7-part plan for protecting the 2026 elections. Three parts involve changes to elections at the local level that are aimed at ways that current election laws have been weaponized to suppress votes. Voter suppression techniques that should be stopped include general lists of challenged voters that are routinely removed from voter records, intimidation of voters and election workers, and the refusal to certify elections without verifiable cause.
The other four parts involve changes at the federal level that interfere with free and fair elections. They include banning DOJ officials from operating near voting places, banning Federal involvement in elections until after the new Congress is seated, requiring search warrants from seated grand juries, and removing immunity from officials when investigating elections. These changes would make it harder for partisan interference in elections from the Federal level.
While Marc Elias has been asking for these changes for years, very little movement has been made at the state and federal level. It may be too late to make significant changes at the state level and virtually impossible to make federal changes. The bright spots are the many Democrats winning special elections in Republican districts. Perhaps the Republican voters are recognizing that Trump and his gang are no bargain.
If we can overcome Trump’s efforts to stop the mid-terms and we work hard to preserve a free and fair election, maybe the next two years will be better.
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