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Democrats Could Alter Voting Rules in Five Battleground States
Confirmed
In Short: A watchdog report released Tuesday by the Honest Elections Project Action warns that voters in five battleground states could alter voting rules, potentially favoring Democrats in future presidential elections.
The report notes that if Democrats win total control of state governments in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, they could implement reforms similar to those in California and Virginia, such as ranked-choice voting and relaxed standards for mail-in ballots.
These changes could shift the balance of power in presidential elections, favoring larger states and heavily liberal metropolitan areas.
Over a dozen Democrat-leaning states have already signed onto measures that could jeopardize Trump’s presidential victory in 2016.
The report analyzed 419 election-related bills passed across the country by August 2026, with 223 of those bills passed in states with total Republican control and 158 in states with Democrat control.
In divided states like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, a Democratic victory could lead to the adoption of California- and Virginia-style voting reforms almost overnight.
The report emphasizes that these reforms could have a far-reaching impact on future presidential elections and how voting is conducted in those states.
President Trump has been touring deep-red states to boost midterm election turnout among Republican voters and thank them for their support, despite low approval ratings.
Trump's Medicaid drug-pricing model, which aims to lower prescription drug costs, has been rolled out nationwide, with states able to choose which eligible drugs they want covered under the model.
The model, which seeks to reduce the gap between U.S. prescription drug costs and prices paid in other developed countries, has been described by Trump as a way to provide billions of dollars for healthcare improvements or other uses.
The report also highlights the importance of these state-level decisions, noting that voters will be deciding more than just governors and senators this November; they may well decide the future of free and fair elections in America.
What this adds
The report does not specify the exact impact of these reforms on the 2028 election, but it suggests that the changes could significantly alter the electoral landscape.
What's confirmed
- The report notes that if Democrats win total control of state governments in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, they could implement reforms similar to those in California and Virginia, such as ranked-choice voting and relaxed standards for mail-in ballots.
- These changes could shift the balance of power in presidential elections, favoring larger states and heavily liberal metropolitan areas.
- Over a dozen Democrat-leaning states have already signed onto measures that could jeopardize Trump’s presidential victory in 2016.
- The report analyzed 419 election-related bills passed across the country by August 2026, with 223 of those bills passed in states with total Republican control and 158 in states with Democrat control.
- In divided states like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, a Democratic victory could lead to the adoption of California- and Virginia-style voting reforms almost overnight.
- The report emphasizes that these reforms could have a far-reaching impact on future presidential elections and how voting is conducted in those states.
- President Trump has been touring deep-red states to boost midterm election turnout among Republican voters and thank them for their support, despite low approval ratings.
- Trump's Medicaid drug-pricing model, which aims to lower prescription drug costs, has been rolled out nationwide, with states able to choose which eligible drugs they want covered under the model.
- The model, which seeks to reduce the gap between U.S. prescription drug costs and prices paid in other developed countries, has been described by Trump as a way to provide billions of dollars for healthcare improvements or other uses.
- The report also highlights the importance of these state-level decisions, noting that voters will be deciding more than just governors and senators this November; they may well decide the future of free and fair elections in America.
What's still developing
- “This November, voters in five states will decide more than who governs for the next two or four years. They will decide what rules will govern the 2028 presidential election,” the watchdog wrote in a report released Tuesday.
- President Trump began pressuring Republican-led states to do just that last year, but it isn't working out as expected.
- President Donald Trump announced Friday that all 50 states will participate in the administration's Medicaid GENEROUS drug-pricing model, a program that aims to lower what Medicaid pays for certain prescription medicines through an international reference-pricing system.
- States can choose which eligible drugs they want covered under the model but must adopt standardized coverage criteria negotiated by CMS and manufacturers, including utilization-management tools such as prior authorization or step therapy.
- Voters are heading to the polls in Berlin and the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Local elections are taking place in two German states on Sunday which could increase the political pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
- These latest elections come after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a major victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt two weeks ago, while the CDU saw its vote halved.
- Currently the state premier, Schwesig is trying to sweep up the anti-AfD vote as she bills herself as the "Die Frau gegen Blau" - "Woman against Blue", the AfD's party colours.
- “Stated plainly, in the United States, freedom of speech belongs to the people. It is not the government’s to take,” wrote United States District Court Judge Noël Wise in her ruling, a 90-page opinion that repeatedly invoked founding figures including Benjamin Franklin and James Madison.
- “We need the secretary of state to make a decision so the courts would give us a decision on which map is in effect,” Bahr said.
- Trump’s Russian diesel deal won’t change US oil markets much: Analysis Russia has claimed it can supply even more diesel to the global market than the quantities agreed with United States President Donald Trump.
- On Thursday, Trump explained why he is spending time in states he has carried easily.
- “President Trump knows how important it is to have rock-solid conservatives representing Alabama in Washington and Montgomery, and I’m happy to have him visit our state so close to this critical midterm election,” Moore said on social media.