Trump Said the Quiet Part Out Loud: the Nationalization of Elections and “Legal Machinery” for Federal Takeover of U.S. Elections
Washington, D.C. — In response to President Trump’s latest statements regarding the nationalization of elections and the escalating federal interference in state-led contests, Voto Latino issued the following statement:
“Donald Trump just said the quiet part out loud. He wants Republicans to ‘take over’ the voting process in 15 key states and ‘nationalize’ our elections. This rhetoric is already being backed by federal forces, from the Trump-Bondi Justice Department’s lawsuits against 24 states to seize sensitive voter rolls and her “ransom letter” to Minnesota Governor Walz urging to see voter rolls, to the unprecedented FBI raid on the Fulton County elections office last week. This is not coincidental. It reflects a concerning pattern to try to intimidate communities and suppress voter participation ahead of the midterms.
While the President has long disregarded our Constitution, it remains the law of the land and explicitly delegates the power to conduct elections to the states. Simply put, Republicans cannot legally ‘nationalize’ our elections”
The latest attempt by Congressional Republicans to provide the legal machinery for this overreach, is the MEGA Act. Fueled by a fear of a growing, diverse electorate, Trump and his allies are intent on fundamentally dismantling the way U.S. elections are conducted to serve their own political interests.
While its predecessor, the SAVE Act, focused on proof of citizenship, the MEGA Act is far more sweeping. It targets the very foundation of our democracy: voter registration. By creating direct barriers to the ballot box and sowing distrust in our system, this bill is intended to do one thing: block millions of Americans from participating in our elections.
These tactics strike at the heart of the Latino community. Millions of eligible Latino voters who have participated in our democracy for decades would be forced to navigate a maze of red tape just to remain on the rolls and cast their vote. Voto Latino will not stand by while the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans attempt to legislate our community out of the democratic process. We call on every member of Congress who believes in a fair and accessible election system to reject the MEGA Act in its entirety.
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Voto Latino is a civic advocacy organization dedicated to educating and empowering the next generation of Latino voters while working to build a more inclusive and representative democracy. Since its founding, Voto Latino has registered over two million voters. In 2024, the organization took legal action to protect voting rights, filing multiple lawsuits in Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina to safeguard access to the ballot ahead of the elections.