As Trump talks about election fraud, NYS Democrats prep for mayhem in November

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump continues pressing Congress to overhaul voter ID and mail-in voting requirements ahead of November’s midterm elections, New York Democrats this summer have been preparing for the prospect of chaos at the polls and a blitz of legal battles disputing the results if congressional Republicans lose their majority.

At a "war games" strategy session convened by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently, top Democrats and a group of prominent election lawyers ran through what they consider possible Election Day scenarios, such as Trump deploying National Guard troops or Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling sites, a move the president has not discounted when asked repeatedly by reporters.

"Whatever he does, we will be ready to respond," Schumer told reporters on Capitol Hill just before entering the two-hour session on July 22.

At a public hearing in Rochester on July 29, organized by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) and Rep. Joe Morelle (D-Rochester), the two questioned election law experts about the potential impact of passing the Trump-backed SAVE America Act that calls for tougher voter ID requirements. Democrats contend that raises the possibility of disenfranchising millions of voters.

"It's our collective responsibility, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans, to ensure that we have the largest voter protection effort in the history of the country," Jeffries said at the hearing.

And on July 28, after Trump petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower-court ruling that blocked key parts of his March executive order on mail-in voting, state Attorney General Letitia James vowed to keep fighting in court alongside 22 other states that filed the initial lawsuit earlier this year. The suit aims to invalidate an executive order that calls on states to turn over voter data for the creation of so-called citizenship lists of eligible voters.

"We will not hesitate to defend New York’s election laws," James wrote online. "We have beaten attempts to stop mail-in voting before, and we will do it again."

Republicans have described the efforts as overblown, but Democrats contend the public hearings, tabletop exercises and legal challenges are necessary to combat misinformation about the integrity of the upcoming elections as Trump continues to float unfounded statements questioning the legitimacy of his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump has been pressing Congress to pass a package of stricter voter ID requirements called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility America Act, which in part would require those registering to vote to provide certain documentation up front to prove their citizenship, such as a Real ID, passport, military ID or certified birth certificate.

Democrats contend most states already verify citizenship through so-called back-end procedures such as matching registrants against government databases and maintain that not all citizens have the means to purchase a passport or track down a birth certificate. They also have raised concerns that married women who have changed their names may run into issues if presenting documentation with their maiden names.

State authority

Democrats have described Trump’s push to overhaul the voting ID requirements and mail-in voting rules as an illegal power grab, noting that the U.S. Constitution grants states the responsibility to administer elections.

"New York’s elections are secure. Our laws are clear. And the Constitution does not give the President the authority to override the longstanding role of states in administering their own elections," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement after Trump petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene on his executive order.

Asked about the recent Democrat-led efforts, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson, in an email to Newsday, said: "If Democrats really cared about securing our elections, they would pass the SAVE America Act which includes commonsense election integrity measures."

Trump on July 27 called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to cancel the chamber’s August recess and "terminate" the chamber’s 60-vote threshold in order to pass the SAVE America Act. Thune has repeatedly said there are not enough votes, including among Republicans, who hold 53 seats in the chamber, to pass the bill.

"If I thought there was a path to getting a result, I’m all for it," Thune told reporters on Capitol Hill on July 27. "We voted on it two, three, four, five times already, had it up on the floor for an extended period of time. Show me how this ends. What’s the picture of victory at the end?"

Trump's claims

Trump has defended the need for the bill, pointing most recently to the disclosure by New Jersey election officials earlier in July that a software error led to more than 6,000 noncitizens being added to the state’s voter rolls when they applied for their driver's licenses or state identifications. State officials said of those added, about 400 are believed to have voted, and a subsequent review found some on the list may be citizens after all.

The error in New Jersey points to a "A Crooked Election System," Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social, but Democrats have countered that New Jersey officials have been transparent about the error and there is no evidence of a widespread issue across states.

"The minute New Jersey discovered it, they fixed it," Schumer told reporters last week. “[It] has nothing to do with the SAVE Act, and just the opposite of what Donald Trump does. He creates problems in our elections. He exacerbates problems in our elections. He hides problems in our elections."

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), a supporter of the SAVE America Act and a former commissioner of the Suffolk County Board of Elections, told Newsday in an email that he believes Democrats are being "grossly disingenuous" about some of the concerns being raised about the proof-of-citizenship requirements posing a barrier to some groups.

"If technical changes are needed to make the law easier for married women or other eligible voters to comply with, Congress should make them," LaLota said.

The House is expected to return from its summer recess on Aug. 31, and the Senate broke for the summer on Aug. 8, returning Sept. 14 — about 50 days before Election Day.

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.