Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday is launching what he says is his party’s most expansive effort yet to thwart interference in the 2026 midterms, countering what Democrats argue are direct threats from President Donald Trump and Republicans against fair elections.
Schumer is tapping former top officials, including former Attorney General Eric Holder, as part of Democrats’ new election task force that Schumer says will identify “threats” to the upcoming election and work to mitigate them.
Prominent Democratic attorney Marc Elias will also serve on Schumer’s election task force. Elias oversaw the Democratic Party’s response to lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign contesting the 2020 presidential election results.
“Trump and Republicans are testing how far they can go to undermine free and fair elections because they can’t win on a level playing field,” Schumer said in a statement. “Democrats aren’t going to sit back and hope for the best.”
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Schumer called the task force the “largest election protection effort in the country,” and it will include participation from senior senators like Dick Durbin, Maria Cantwell, Mark Warner, Bernie Sanders and others.
Both parties have clashed repeatedly over the last year about election integrity and voting rights. Democrats raised alarms about the Republicans’ SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and also require photo ID to cast ballots in federal elections. Schumer and Democrats are also wary Trump could deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling locations — a suggestion that Department of Homeland Security officials have rejected.
Republicans have argued their election-reform efforts are aimed at reassuring Americans the elections won’t face fraud and that only citizens will be able to vote. They point to public polling that has found broad support for voter ID. The SAVE America Act is a priority for Trump and conservatives, but faces a rocky future in the Senate.
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