Trump's Supporters: "Midterms Will Be Rigged ... Martial Law and Election Suspension Needed"

Openly discussed at a MAGA video conference last month
Fears the measures could be carried out as Republicans face projected heavy losses

Members of “MAGA” (Make America Great Again), the core support base of U.S. President Donald Trump, have raised concerns about midterm election fraud and called for extreme emergency measures, including martial law and suspending the election.

On October 17 (Korea time), the U.S. online outlet Axios reported that participants in a MAGA video conference on September 30 warned of widespread election security breaches in the midterms in early November and called for urgent measures.

U.S. President Donald Trump wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat. AFP-Yonhap News

Peter Ticktin, who has been friends with President Trump since childhood, said at the conference, “If the election is rigged, martial law should be imposed.” He also told Axios, “There is a strong possibility that ballots and election equipment will need to be seized before something bigger happens.” The phrase “something bigger,” according to one analysis, refers to stopping the vote count by seizing ballots and other materials before results favorable to Democrats emerge.

Gregory Stenstrom, who alleged voter fraud in Pennsylvania during the 2020 presidential election, called for the midterms to be temporarily suspended for security reasons at the MAGA video conference. Tina Peters, who was imprisoned in Colorado for election-related crimes and later pardoned with President Trump’s support, also attended the conference. Peters urged voters to mark paper ballots by hand and to conduct recounts manually wherever possible.

Demands are being made openly, particularly by hard-line MAGA activists, to prevent election fraud by invoking emergency powers, including martial law.

U.S. President Donald Trump campaigning in Oklahoma. AFP-Yonhap

Derek Tisler, an attorney at the Brennan Center, a U.S. election research institute, told Axios, “Emergency powers are not a blank check for the president.” He added that “the president must still act within the bounds of the Constitution and laws enacted by Congress.” Since Congress sets the date of federal elections, President Trump cannot unilaterally postpone the midterms.

Tisler also said, “Even if the president has the power to declare an emergency, that does not allow him to disregard state election laws or constitutional limits. Nor does declaring martial law give the president the authority to nullify election laws.”

President Trump, who has blamed his 2020 election defeat on voter fraud, has raised the possibility of election fraud well ahead of the midterms. Democrats, the opposition party, are also preparing various measures in anticipation of what they call President Trump’s “interference in the election.”

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, has even conducted scenario-based election-interference drills involving stand-ins for key Trump administration officials, including the secretary of homeland security, the director of national intelligence (DNI) and the attorney general. Democratic lawyers have also drafted various written materials so they can appear in court immediately if problems arise.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.