Hello again, Andrew at Democracy Docket here. So far in this series, we’ve looked at various threats President Donald Trump poses to the midterms: What happens if a county refuses to certify the election results? Could Trump take over voting by declaring a “national emergency”?

Today, reporter Jacob Knutson dives deep into the Trump administration’s plan to control voter registration, something the U.S. Constitution gives states — not the executive branch — primary authority to regulate. If successful, it could allow Trump to disenfranchise qualified voters.

One last thing: If you haven’t already, take a minute after reading this article to check your voter registration status by using this link.

See you next time.

Trump is building a national voter registry, threatening state control of elections

Since returning to office, Trump and the election deniers he’s placed in critical positions across the federal government have attacked voting on multiple fronts. Now, they’re targeting the most fundamental step for casting a ballot in U.S. elections: voter registration.

Using the Department of Justice, the administration has demanded sensitive registration records from all states. Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is running those records through opaque, flawed federal databases and pressuring states to remove from their lists thousands of voters flagged as potentially ineligible.

At the same time, the administration is creating a national registry of eligible voters that it may use to supplant state registration lists and disenfranchise qualified voters.

The Trump administration’s active attempt to exploit voter registration threatens to restrict Americans’ access to the ballot in all future elections, including the upcoming midterms. And in both its scope and overreach, its effort has been extraordinary.