Title 52, Sec. 101(b) provides that “no person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall … attempt to intimidate, …. any other person for the purpose of interfering with their right to vote as they may choose,” and Sec 101(c) allows an injunction to block such attempts. Democrats should get an injunction against the methods Trump is likely to use to rig the 2026 midterms.
Although injunctions don’t matter to Trump or his enslaved Republicans, these injunctions will matter to the individual ICE agents, members of the military, and other Trump operatives who attempt to deprive voters of the right to vote as they choose.
It will matter because, specifically, if any individual violates the injunction, they can personally be held in civil or criminal contempt and suffer fines and jail time. Those consequences would provide the strongest disincentive to obey any order to intimidate voters.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and The Rules for Courts-Martial an order is unlawful, “if it is contrary to the Constitution or the laws of the United States.
The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the use of federal troops for domestic law enforcement other than in the case of an insurrection.
So, if Trump issued an unconstitutional or unlawful order, the members of the military would be legally obligated to disobey it or be subject to fines and incarceration.
Even without an injunction, individuals are legally obligated to disobey any command to commit illegal acts or else they’d be personally subject to civil liability and incarceration.
Trump would probably pardon the ICE agents and other offenders for federal crimes but cannot pardon for state crimes, void civil liability or stop Congressional investigations. Nevertheless, Trump’s roll in ordering the intimidation is likely to be its own crime, and could be the basis for criminal prosecution after he leaves office.
Although the law gives the Attorney General the authority to bring the proceeding for an injunction, it is beyond unlikely that Pam Bondi would do so. Nevertheless, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 creates a way for citizens to bring a civil action to seek injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages against the individuals that deprived voters the right to vote as they choose.
There are plenty of grounds to believe that Trump will employ ICE agents and the military to engage in such attempts. First, there are the undeserved horrors ICE has inflicted on immigrants and citizens alike, sweeping them off the streets in Gestapo-like fashion and sending them to the most brutal prison in the Western Hemisphere.
Trump has openly discussed using the military to quell domestic demonstrations, which he labels as chaos, and declaring a national emergency so he can bring in the troops.
To facilitate intimidating voters, Trump is pressing Republicans from states across the country to give him their voter rolls, Attorney General Pam Bondi threatened Minnesota Governor Walz that if he wanted a ICE to back off he must give Trump access to his state’s voter rolls, and Bondi has initiated more than 20 legal actions to get them.
Trump obtained a magistrate’s warrant to seize voting records in Georgia, ostensively to prove he won the 2020 election. Many legal experts worry that he’ll use the seizure as precedent to obtain a similar warrant to seize voting machines and midterm ballots before they’re counted.
Trump may pressure his Republican allies to refuse to seat Democratic winners claiming there are disputes about the results. California, with 54 electoral votes, could be particularly vulnerable, since it takes so long for the state to tally its votes. It’s happened before in a closely contested race.
Trump could repeat his deployment of supporters, pardoned Oath keepers and Proud Boys to stage another Jan. 6 attack on Congress.
As always, only the Republicans can stop Trump’s treacheries. Whether he rigs the midterms depends on whether they’ll sacrifice their constituents to avoid facing a Trump-backed challenger in the primaries.
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