Democratic state attorneys general have stepped up legal and political efforts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections as President Donald Trump promotes federal changes to election rules, including a House-passed bill tied to proof of citizenship. A Heritage Action-commissioned poll reported majority support for those requirements in five states.
Democratic state attorneys general have increased coordination and legal planning ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, arguing that the Trump administration’s push to expand federal involvement in election administration could burden eligible voters and create new conflicts with state-run systems.
Their concerns have focused in part on federal efforts to set nationwide rules for voter registration and ballot handling. In April 2025, a coalition of 19 Democratic attorneys general filed suit challenging a Trump executive order on elections that included a requirement for documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration and rules aimed at mail ballots. A federal judge in Massachusetts later issued a preliminary injunction blocking key provisions of that order, according to a June 13, 2025 statement from the California attorney general’s office.
The attorneys general have also publicly opposed congressional legislation aligned with the president’s election agenda. The Daily Wire reported on February 23, 2026 that a Heritage Action-commissioned poll in Alaska, Georgia, Maine, Ohio, and North Carolina found majority support for requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections—describing it as a key provision of the SAVE America Act. According to the same report, support for proof-of-citizenship registration was 69% in Alaska and Georgia, 71% in Ohio, 68% in North Carolina, and 65% in Maine; when the question included a requirement for proof of citizenship and a “valid ID” to vote in federal elections, support remained above 60% in all five states.
The poll also found strong opposition to noncitizen voting, the Daily Wire reported, with 77% opposed in Alaska, 73% in Maine, 71% in North Carolina, 69% in Ohio, and 67% in Georgia. Stefani Buhajla, identified by the Daily Wire as Heritage Action’s senior director of communications and marketing, was quoted saying, “The electorate is not divided,” and adding, “More than 70 percent of likely voters oppose non-citizen voting.”
Democratic attorneys general have argued that the SAVE-related legislation would impose broad new burdens on voter registration. In a letter dated February 18, 2026 and signed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and other Democratic attorneys general, the group urged Senate leaders to reject the SAVE America Act. The letter said the bill would “radically upend voter registration nationwide” by requiring people to present documentary proof of citizenship “in person for every new registration or update,” and said that “instances of noncitizen voting are exceedingly rare and have never been shown to affect election outcomes.” The letter also argued that driver’s licenses, including REAL IDs, and military or tribal IDs alone would not suffice under the proposal.
The letter further said the bill would effectively eliminate or constrain tools such as online and mail voter registration in many states and could overwhelm local election offices by requiring large numbers of voters to appear in person.
Separately, debate over federal enforcement activity near elections has intensified. On February 6, 2026, Newsweek reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she had not heard Trump discuss any “formal plans” to place U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside polling locations, but added, “I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November.” The midterm elections are scheduled for November 3, 2026.
Democratic officials have cited recent federal actions involving election records as part of their broader concerns about federal pressure on state election administration. In Georgia, the FBI executed a search warrant on January 28, 2026 at Fulton County’s elections hub seeking 2020 election materials, including ballots, ballot images, tabulator tapes and voter rolls, according to CBS News Atlanta. Fulton County officials have challenged the seizure in court, arguing it violated the Fourth Amendment and that the affidavit supporting the warrant did not establish probable cause that a crime had been committed, CBS News Atlanta reported on February 18, 2026.
Not all claims about election-security preparations by Democratic attorneys general could be confirmed from the available sources for this review. The Daily Wire report and the attorneys general’s February 18 letter addressed the SAVE legislation and public opinion, but did not substantiate several additional assertions about “war-games,” specific alleged scenarios such as confiscation of ballots or voting machines, or quotes attributed to multiple officials in the draft article.
