Trump Allies Sought Ban on Voting Machines Used in Half of U.S. States
Updated
Updated · Modern Diplomacy · May 22
Trump Allies Sought Ban on Voting Machines Used in Half of U.S. States
7 articles · Updated · Modern Diplomacy · May 22
Officials tied to Donald Trump explored using Commerce Department powers to classify Dominion voting-machine components as national security threats, aiming to restrict systems used across more than half of U.S. states.
Kurt Olsen and other allies pushed the plan on the back of debunked 2020 election claims, but the effort collapsed when officials failed to produce supporting evidence.
Dominion remained a central target even after courts, audits and investigations rejected fraud allegations and Fox News agreed to a $787 million settlement over false claims.
The episode has renewed concern that conspiracy theories are shaping government action and that federal intervention in election machinery could test state control ahead of the midterm elections.
What legal framework allows federal seizure of state election equipment without concrete evidence of a national security threat?
As localities adopt manual counts despite expert warnings, what are the real-world impacts on election cost, speed, and accuracy?
The 2025–2026 Federal Push to Ban Voting Machines and Centralize U.S. Elections: Legal Battles, State Resistance, and the Fight for Election Integrity
Overview
Between 2025 and 2026, the Trump administration made a major effort to ban voting machines, especially those from Dominion Voting Systems, in over half of U.S. states. This was part of a larger plan to influence how elections are managed at the state and local level. White House adviser Kurt Olsen pushed for a national system using only hand-counted paper ballots, an idea strongly supported by Donald Trump. Liberty Vote, a group aligned with these goals, planned a full review of Dominion’s equipment before the 2026 midterms and aimed to either rebuild or retire these machines, while promising strict auditing and American-only staffing.