U.S. Democrats Prepare for Trump's Election Interference with 150 Scenarios

[Financial News] CNN reported on the 4th (local time) that the opposition Democratic Party is preparing thorough countermeasures against President Donald Trump's interference in the U.S. midterm elections in November.
With the prevailing view that the Democratic Party will regain majority status in both the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections, they are devising strategies to prepare for any potential obstructionism by President Trump before or after the election.
According to reports, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recently gathered his fellow senators, legal experts, and former officials to discuss specific hypothetical scenarios.

This includes situations where President Trump deploys Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents and the National Guard to polling stations, or where federal authorities seize ballots following the announcement of foreign hostile forces hacking the voting system. A scenario was also discussed in which fake AI videos alleging election fraud trigger President Trump's intervention, leading to the removal of eligible voters from the voter roll.
"These meetings were not merely about seeking ways to deter Trump's absurd threats; they played a crucial role in envisioning the many variables Trump and his aides could employ, as well as the vulnerabilities that could emerge during the preparation process," Schumer stated.
The Democratic Party also began preparations in the House, led by Representative Joe Morell (State of New York).
Representative Morell has compiled 150 potential threats that could occur on Election Day and afterward. These include hypothetical scenarios such as the possibility of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appearing at polling stations or social media influencers spreading false information that polling locations have been changed.


The Democratic Party has been preparing step-by-step for several months. Senate Majority Leader Schumer launched the Election Protection Task Force last April, and Senator Alex Padilla (California) established a new bipartisan program in the Senate to deploy congressional observers to polling stations.
Senate Majority Leader Schumer even conducted scenario-based election interference drills featuring look-alikes of key Trump administration officials, including the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and the Attorney General.
They are also preparing a legal response. It is reported that the Democratic Party's lawyers have even drafted various written materials so that they can appear in court immediately if a problem arises.
Elias Law Group, the largest forum representing the Democratic Party in the United States, is already filing 85 election-related lawsuits in 41 states.
"Aria Branch, a partner at the law firm, said, 'If a threat arises or a potential lawsuit comes up to handle, we are all ready to rush to the state immediately. We have our emergency response bags ready.'"


Non-partisan groups have also begun training volunteers to monitor the election process, including vote counting and verification of election results.
Deirdre Schippeling, political director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said that the ACLU invested $25 million and trained 10,000 volunteers ahead of the midterm elections.
CNN pointed out, "Such extensive, undisclosed response measures clearly demonstrate how seriously the Democratic Party in Congress is taking the threat of federal government interference in the election."
In fact, in a recently released interview with the U.S. news weekly Time, President Trump said he "never thought" about deploying ICE agents to polling stations, but regarding invoking the Insurrection Act to declare a state of emergency, he said, "I do not rule out or confirm anything. I could use it."
Some of the hypothetical scenarios discussed by Democratic Party lawmakers have partially become reality.
Last June, Democratic senators discussed the possibility that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) might threaten to crack down on broadcast licenses using political content as a pretext; three months later, in September, ABC's flagship talk show host Jimmy Kimmel claimed that an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was not aired due to threats from the FCC.


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Specialist Reporter