VOTING

The very real reason Trump is cracking down on imaginary voter fraud

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 08: Former U.S. President Donald Trump stands with former first lady Melania Trump as he speaks to the media after voting at a polling station setup in the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on November 08, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. After months of candidates campaigning, Americans are voting in the midterm elections to decide close races across the nation. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Donald Trump and Republicans are NOT “trying to make it harder for illegals and dead people to vote.” They’re trying to make it harder to vote — PERIOD.

This spring, Trump signed an order his own secretary called “the farthest-reaching in American history.”

It had ONE goal: to make voting more complicated, so less people do it.

📄 It demands documentary proof for citizenship such as a passport to be eligible to vote in federal elections.

❌ 9% of Americans don’t have easy access to that — and a majority are from minority groups, who overwhelmingly vote Democrat.

📄 It also blocks states from accepting mail-in ballots after election day — regardless of when they are mailed in.

❌ More than 80 million people voted before Election Day in 2024, including a large chunk of the US military. How can they control when their ballots arrive?

Luckily, election restrictions like this don’t hold up in court — the US Constitution explicitly gives states and Congress the authority to set the rules for elections, NOT the president.

But that’s not going to stop Republicans from repeatedly screaming “voter fraud” — when there is none.

❌ Illegal immigrants do not vote!
❌ Dead people do not vote!
❌ “Massive voter fraud” is not happening!

But don’t just take MY word for it… Let’s look at the numbers straight from the Heritage Foundation (the right-wing think tank famous for pulling together the controversial Project 2025) ⤵️

✅ The percentage of fraudulent votes over the last 25 years of elections is a minuscule .0000845%!

✅ Heritage had to go back to the year 2000 to find 36 TOTAL cases of voter fraud in the swing state of Arizona. During that time, 42,626,379 ballots were cast and 36 total elections were held. (One case of fraud per election!)

✅ Heritage had to go back to 1995 to find 39 total cases of voter fraud in Pennsylvania, another swing state. 100 million votes were cast in 32 elections over that span!

The bottom line? NO election outcome in the U.S. has ever been altered by voter fraud. Trump and Republicans are just trying to make voting more difficult, so it’s easier for them to win.


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  • Christina Lorey is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist and former UpNorthNews newsletter editor. She previously worked as a producer, reporter, and TV anchor for stations in Madison and Moline. When she’s not writing or asking questions, Christina volunteers with Girls on the Run, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and several mental health organizations.