Seizure: Trump's predictable move in the 2026 midterms and how we can recover
A "reporting hack" doesn't require hacking even one voting machine
Ballots and ballot data have been recently seized: the FBI in Fulton County, Georgia1, and the Sheriff’s office in Riverside County, California2. But we are faced with the specter of possible seizures in upcoming elections to alter the results by force.
Even if no one hacks a voting machine, an election can still be thrown into chaos if ballots, ballot images, and vote records are disappeared. Without the records, election officials may not be able to complete the count or independently verify the outcome. They can just make up the result and we can’t prove otherwise.
Even a 1% chance deserves a contingency plan. This time, it is nothing less than predictable, given the Trump pattern of using force and fear to get his way.
Let me make the case and you can connect the dots.
THE THREAT:
Trump is in trouble. He is one of the least popular presidents in history. High gas prices, a new on-going “forever war”, high prices due to tariffs, the list goes on.
Midterms go to the opposition party. Experts3 are now predicting that D-party candidates may take a majority of the House and maybe even the Senate.
Impeachment? If this happens, Trump knows he will lose much of his power and might be impeached yet again4.
The R-controlled Congress may try to get involved. They do have some say regarding how congressional elections are processed, despite the fact that processing is done by states and counties. They can order recounts or stoppages to benefit R-party candidates as Congress does judge elections of its own members under Article I, Section 5.5
EAC is DOA. The Election Assistance Commission is not a very powerful independent agency, but they may get in the way. So Trump fired the remaining two D-party members and the last R-party member resigned. It now has no seated members, so it can do nothing to get in the way. Without commissioners, it cannot take formal commission actions6.
Mail Ballots Threatened. The Trump administration is already asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow new federal restrictions on mail-in ballots before the 2026 midterm elections7. That demonstrates a willingness to use federal authority to reshape election administration, despite ongoing constitutional challenges.
Emergency. Trump can declare an emergency to defend against “the enemy within.”
Seizure: Trump will direct the FBI to seize ballots and vote data before totals can be officially announced. Once the ballots and vote data are seized, then the count cannot proceed. The FBI can seize all machines and tabulators, leaving the election offices with nothing (unless they plan ahead).
Congress can do nothing to stop it. We know congress is worried. D-party members proposed the “Protect Our Polls Act,” which would prevent troops or “armed men” at polling places. If passed, this might block ICE agents from surrounding polling places and grabbing anyone that looks “out of place.” But this will likely go nowhere, as the R-controlled congress won’t support it and certainly Trump will veto it.
Announcement. Trump then announces, Maduro-style8, that his endorsed candidates have “won by a landslide”.
Thus, no need to hack machines. The hack occurs far above that, with the official announcement of the winners. All ballot data is gone, so we can’t prove otherwise.
The R-controlled Congress swears-in the candidates and forms a new R-controlled Congress.
Worst case, new laws are passed to allow unlimited tenure for Trump, and our Democracy sinks further into authoritarianism and fascism.
SOLUTION — REGULAR DATA BACKUPS
Election offices should BACK UP all ballot images and vote data.
Backups are NOT done routinely today. But we must start.
Ballot Images are ALREADY created by all modern ballot scanners.
Most election offices save these, with some posting these anonymous images to their website.
Yet, many election offices routinely delete ballot image data produced by election equipment, saying they are worthless and only “ephemeral” data.
We must get them to stop this practice and make ROUTINE DATA BACKUPS.
TWO BACKUPS should be created and placed into separate off-site safes. (Another secret backup is even better).
Officials should keep one copy even if authorities seize the others
RECOVERY
Even if Trump and the FBI seize the ballots and election data, these backups can be used to reconstruct the election.
Ballot images and digital records are evidence that can be read either by human eye or by software to recreate the official result, even if all paper ballots are seized or destroyed.
You can help
Request Election Data Backups. Please contact your local election office and ask them if they make regular backups and store them off site, and ask them to do so if they do not. Visit Contact Your Election Office for contact information.
Use Drop Boxes. If you vote using a mailed-out ballot, do not use the Postal Service to return your ballot. Drop it off at an official election drop box or return to your county’s election office. Don’t be fooled by imposter drop boxes.
Subscribe to ballot tracking services. Generally, this is handled by the Secretary of State in your state (or equivalent agency), and it will notify you by text when your ballot is sent out and when it is received. Online ballot tracking for mailed-out ballots is available in every state except Illinois, Missouri and Wyoming9 — and even if there is no statewide system, some counties also provide the service.
SUGGESTED MESSAGE:
Offsite Election Backups
Background:
Law enforcement has started taking ballots and other election data to investigate.
A Federal District Court has already ruled the FBI can seize and keep ballots for investigations.
The California Supreme Court will rule if Sheriffs can do this. Natural disasters and accidents are also risks.
Proposal:
Each election office needs to be prepared with two offsite backup copies of all the ballot images created by election scanners and other vote records, in case paper ballots and records are impounded or suffer disaster.
Put the copies, sealed, into offsite safes as they are scanned. Two backups let law enforcement seize one, and the office still keeps one.
For Those Offices Routinely Deleting Data:
Some jurisdictions claim that there is no reason to save ballot images that have been created by ballot scanners, and in some cases, they set these machines to routinely delete them.
If they say there is no need for the ballot images “because we have the paper ballots,” the need for these secure backups makes the case for keeping that valuable data.
Let us know if you contact your offices about backups.
Just mail a note to signup@citizensoversight.org and put # DATA BACKUPS in the subject and tell us what you have done. We really appreciate this feedback.
All posts by Ray Lutz: https://raylutz.substack.com
In fact, we are happy to see the issue in Riverside stand a chance of being resolved. See https://substack.com/home/post/p-193221966 -- “Legitimate Concerns in Riverside County are Hard to Explain -- 45,896 more ballots than voters. Liberty Vote machines appear to be adding ghost ballots.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5987178-midterm-forecast-house-senate/ “Democrats favored to win House, underdogs in Senate 100 days out”
https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker -- "President Donald Trump suggested to House Republicans on Tuesday that their party needs to maintain control of Congress during this year's midterm elections or Democrats will "find a reason to impeach me."
See the history of “The Bloody Eighth” where in 1984 the election was so close that the House of Representatives itself determined which of two candidates to seat, accepting the recommendation of the Democratic-controlled House task force sent to Indiana to count the ballots. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana%27s_8th_congressional_district
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/27/trump-asks-scotus-to-permit-blocks-on-mail-in-ballots-before-midterms-01013126 “Trump asks SCOTUS to permit blocks on mail-in ballots before midterms”
You may hear that the SmartMatic voting systems used in Venezuela are hackable and that Maduro used this to win his election. The reality is that those machines are some of the best produced, and even have a QR Code on the poll tape to make auditing easier. 90,000 members of community groups led by Maria Corina Machado gathered over 80% of the poll tapes (which each machine can print to provide the totals from that machine) and they aggregated the votes and proved that Maduro did not win. See the full story in how community organizing can be effective: https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/politics/venezuelas-opposition-secured-over-80-of-crucial-vote-tally-sheets-heres-how-they-did-it/3380426/
The vote tallies show González received roughly 6.2 million votes versus Maduro’s 2.7 million. Maduro just ignored the results and claimed that he won.
Each state has election officers overseeing elections for the state.
I've emailed NY state Elections Security and Governor Hochul with your recommendations.
Thank you. We need to secure ballots.
We need safe and fair elections. And we all have to do our part.