As Trump Admin & Republicans Escalate Attacks On Free & Fair Elections—And Foreign Threats Grow—Senate Democrats Launch Earliest & Largest Election Protection Effort In History

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) along with Senate Democrats and top election law experts unveiled a new elections task force, aimed at examining threats that Republicans and adversaries could launch against our democracy and seeing how the Senate and other bodies can actively work to mitigate them.

As the 2026 midterm elections approach, Donald Trump and Republican House and Senate members have made clear that they are worried about their dropping poll numbers and are trying different avenues to rig the election. Whether it is via their SAVE Act or by deploying ICE agents to polling locations, they appear to have concluded they are okay with subverting the will of the American people and intimidating and suppressing voters from exercising their constitutional rights. Senate Democrats, on the other hand, are committed to leading the fight to ensure that our elections are safe, secure, and most importantly fair.

Today, Senate Democrats are launching a new elections task force with top election officials - like former AG Eric Holder & Marc Elias of the Elias Law Group - to work to identify any and all threats to our upcoming elections. They will also discuss options to mitigate these threats. This task force will meet today and over the next months as the election draws near.

Today's meeting is especially timely considering the ruling from the Supreme Court today further gutting the Voting Rights Act. The consequences of this decision will be immediate and far-reaching: fewer protections for voters and more power for politicians to draw maps that silence them, particularly voters historically disenfranchised. But the Supreme Court is just one pathway that Republicans are using to try to limit the right to vote. It will be vital that Senate Democrats continue to fight for democracy across any possible avenue.

"Let's call it what it is: an effort to rig the system. 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. The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy-and right now, that foundation is under attack," said Leader Schumer. "Democrats aren't going to sit back and hope for the best. We're acting early and at scale-launching the largest election protection effort in the country-to expose these schemes, stop voter suppression, and make sure the American people-not politicians-decide our elections."

Senate Democrats participating in the task force include Ranking Member of Judiciary, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL); Ranking Member of the Commerce Committee, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA); Vice Chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA); Ranking Members of Rules Committee, Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA); and Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE).

Today, top elections law experts briefed the task force members on threats to the election, including Marc Elias of the Elias Law Group, Justin Vail from Protect Democracy, Vanita Gupta with NYU School of Law, Jodie Morse with Democracy Forward Wendy Weiser with the Brennan Center, and Eric Holder with the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

"The Senate Democrats' elections task force is exactly the kind of forward-thinking leadership our democracy needs right now. Donald Trump and his allies are waging a coordinated assault on voting rights, weaponizing the Justice Department against voters, and trying to rewrite election rules to hold onto power," said Marc Elias of the Elias Law Group. "This task force will ensure that Senate Democrats are organized, informed, and ready to act. I am proud to help the Senators who are stepping up to participate in this effort while our democracy hangs in the balance."

"Our nation is confronting the most serious threats to voting rights since the Jim Crow Era. The aggressive, unabashed pursuit of power at the expense of individual rights comes from the highest level of government and animates the Republican Party. Just this past year, we have seen sustained efforts from Trump and his MAGA sycophants to undermine fair elections and rig the midterms through gerrymandered maps," said Eric H. Holder Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. "We have successfully countered their mid-decade gerrymandering scheme but they are showing no signs of stopping. Their actions are anything but ordinary, and require an extraordinary response to protect our democracy. This task force, led by a dedicated group of Senators, will serve as a strong line of defense, working to protect the integrity of our elections and ensuring that the will of the American voters prevails this year."

"The White House is using the full force of the federal government to deceive voters about our election systems, disrupt how they run, and deny outcomes it doesn't like," said Justin Vail, Counsel and Head of the Washington Office for Protect Democracy. "The Task Force on Election Threats has an important role to play in stopping that - making sure every American can vote and that every vote gets counted, no matter who wins."

"Voting in free and fair elections is a way for the people's voice to be heard; it is the bedrock of our democracy. Yet, the President and his allies are seeking to make it harder to vote, trying to remove eligible voters from the rolls, and even changing the rules of our elections because they are afraid of what will happen when people's voices are heard and when voters hold them accountable. These efforts need to be swiftly opposed in courts and in our communities," said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. "This is an urgent moment for the American people and our democracy. We applaud Leader Schumer for launching the Task Force and look forward to working with members of the Senate as we all fight to ensure every voter counts and every vote is counted."

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