The quickening pace of America's rising dictatorship and falling democracy: Election subversion

US Constitution, Article I, Section 4: The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

The New Republic, and other sources, report about MAGA efforts to undermine and subvert the 2026 mid-term elections. As usual, election subversion efforts are cynically claimed to be innocent attempts to make elections fair and honest. To djt and MAGA elites "election integrity" is code for dictatorship with  sham elections. In this new anti-elections effort, djt targets mail-in voting. 

His "Lies Antisocial" post reads in part: 

“ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS.”

djt is cynically lying about what he is doing and why. He wants to stop mail-in voting by applying illegal federal authority. This amounts to an explicit, unconstitutional takeover of elections by djt and our now authoritarian, fully corrupted and MAGAfied federal government. 

• djt's claim that states "are merely an 'agent' for the Federal Government" contradicts constitutional separation of powers. That is an affirmative lie. 

• Legal experts have described the proposed EO as "blatantly unconstitutional" and "an authoritarian takeover of our election system".

• The Constitution explicitly grants election authority to states and Congress, not the president. Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution says the states have the authority to regulate elections, not the president, but that may be changed by Congress.

• Article I, Section 4 is fundamental to the federal system's balance of power between state and federal authority over electoral processes. It gives states initial control but also gives Congress ultimate oversight over its own elections.

Folks, this is very, very bad. In his boundless power lust, djt is making his run at setting up a kleptocratic American dictatorship. That is coming despite the blatant unconstitutionality and illegality of what he is often doing. djt's authoritarianism cannot get much clearer than this.