KQED's Forum Concerns Build for Election Interference in Midterms
Feb 18, 2026
Natalie Adona, Marin County registrar of voters who runs local ballot operations; Wendy Weiser, democracy expert from the Brennan Center; and David Graham, political reporter at The Atlantic. They discuss risks of attempts to subvert the midterms, how ballot processing and observer rules work, threats and harassment of election workers, legal limits on federal seizure of ballots, and steps officials take to protect voting.
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Authoritarians Prefer Rigged Elections
- Experts say authoritarian actors typically prefer to manipulate rather than cancel elections.
- Maintaining elections gives a veneer of legitimacy that a canceled vote would not provide.
Federal Power Claims Can Enable Interference
- The president lacks legal authority to cancel or nationalize state-run elections under current law.
- But rhetoric and claims of federal power can still enable unlawful interference and intimidation.
Oppose The SAVE Act Now
- Contact your senators and representatives to oppose the SAVE Act and similar voter-document requirements.
- Voice that requiring passports or birth certificates would disenfranchise millions without preventing rare noncitizen voting.