Klaus Marre 09/03/26 (WhoWhatWhy.org)
Americans need to prepare for these midterms as though someone is trying to deny them their right to vote. Here’s how.
With exactly two months to go until the election, a lot of news outlets will try to tell their audiences who to vote for. Not us. If you don’t know who to support at this point, then we honestly can’t help you.
What we can assist you with, however, is something that, depending on where you live, will be much more important than advice on whether to cast your ballot for a member of a weird cult headed by a mentally ill felon or for people trying to exert some kind of oversight over this person and his goon squad: Specifically, we can tell you what to do to ensure that your vote counts.
In a stable democracy, that would not be necessary.
However, the United States in the year of 2026 is not that.
For one thing, Donald Trump’s rhetoric has undermined confidence in US democracy. A mere 60 percent of Americans believe that votes cast in the midterms will be counted accurately.
More importantly (and troublingly), the administration’s actions justify these concerns.
For all of the president’s talk of any election he loses being “stolen,” he and his party are the ones who are continuously trying to manipulate the process to their advantage (as we have pointed out, there’s an important distinction to be made between administratively “rigging” an election, which is unfortunately legal in most cases, and “stealing” it through criminal actions).
Now, to be fair, both Democrats and Republicans are trying to write the rules in a way that benefits them. The difference is that Democrats try to gain an advantage by making it as easy as possible for eligible Americans to vote while the GOP has a long history of trying to suppress the votes of people they believe will not support them.
And that brings us to the point of this column.
If you are a member of one of the Democrats’ core constituencies — e.g., if you are part of a racial or ethnic minority group, a student, a holder of a college degree, or a woman — then there is a Republican out there somewhere who would love to disenfranchise you, make you jump through some extra hoops to cast your ballot, or ensure that your vote is as meaningless as possible.
We, on the other hand, want you to be aware of these strategies and to arm you with the knowledge you need to make as sure as possible that you get to vote if you want to (and you should really want to) and that your vote is counted.
Unfortunately, before the first ballots are cast in a couple weeks’ time, some outcomes have already been predetermined.
For example, by giving each state two senators, the Constitution ensures that Republicans are currently being overrepresented in the Senate. This isn’t part of the rigging of the process; it’s just the way the historical cookie crumbles, as they say.
And what it means is that, while Democratic senators represent many millions more Americans than Republicans, they find themselves in the minority because those GOP senators dominate in the elections of the more sparsely populated states.
Specifically, while eight of the 13* most populous states have two Democratic senators, only four have two Republican senators, and Pennsylvania has one of each. However, it is quite possible that, after the midterms, three more of these states (Texas, Ohio, and North Carolina) will have split representation, and Florida would then be the only state left on that list with two GOP senators — and Republicans could (theoretically) still maintain their Senate majority because they have two senators in eight of the 13 least populated states.
Over in the House, the election manipulation is in full effect because of actions taken by red state Republicans (with an assist from the Supreme Court’s right-wing majority, which gutted what was left of the Voting Rights Act). Officials in red states eagerly answered Trump’s call to engage in an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting spree that could net them about 10 seats while disenfranchising millions of Black voters.
While Black voters were the proximal targets for disenfranchisement in the Southern states we’re talking about here, of course the desired political outcome of all that hasty redistricting is the disenfranchisement of all Democrats, virtually eliminating any Democratic representation of states with millions of Democratic voters — the real prize being a far better prospect for GOP control of the House.
As a result of this redistricting campaign, Democrats are only favored to secure a House majority if they win the popular vote by at least 3 points, and there are some scenarios in which the GOP could maintain its control of the chamber even if Democrats win the popular vote by 6 points. Right now, looking at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report ratings, the GOP can maintain control of the House by winning fewer than half of the contests rated as tossups.
That’s what we mean by “rigging,” by the way. Thanks to the Supreme Court, all of this is technically legal (although we believe it constitutes a crime against democracy).
Now — and this is extremely important and we cannot stress it enough — none of the above should deter you from voting.
First of all, casting a ballot is not only your most important right as a citizen but, we believe, also your obligation.
But there are also many practical reasons to show up. If you live in one of those gerrymandered states, for example, you can teach those who drew the new maps a valuable lesson. In some cases, they may have overdone it and could actually lose seats; and in others, you can at least help make it a close election, forcing the lawmakers there (and elsewhere) to reconsider what they’ve wrought.
In addition, there are always down-ballot races for state offices, local representatives, school boards, etc., that often have a more immediate impact on your life than who represents you in Congress. Plus, you often get to vote on ballot initiatives that give citizens a direct say on issues ranging from reproductive rights and Medicaid expansions to minimum wage increases.
These measures have especially been a thorn in the side of Republicans running those smaller Midwestern states because, as it turns out, voters want all of the above.
Therefore, we urge you to inform yourself and others about the candidates and issues that will be on the ballot where you live. To do so, you can go here or here to view a sample ballot for your district.
Of course, all of this is contingent on whether you will actually be allowed to vote, which is not a given for anybody.
The administration is trying to restrict mail-in voting and also hopes to get its hands on voter rolls to check the eligibility of the names on the list using a database that usually results in the purging of American citizens.
What will come of these anti-democratic efforts is largely in the hands of a Supreme Court that has frequently ruled in favor of Trump and not the Constitution — the authors of which intentionally did not give the executive branch a role in administering elections.
Red states are also engaging in all kinds of voter suppression shenanigans — with a handful of them enacting provisions similar to those found in the congressionally rejected SAVE America Act.
You can find a list of the laws passed in 2025 here and those passed this year here.
So, what does all of this mean for you?
Well, first and foremost, while you may be able to show up at your polling place on November 3 and cast your vote without any problem, you should not assume that you will be able to do so.
That is why, with two months to go before Election Day, you need to start preparing now.
First of all, you should make sure that you are registered to vote in the state where you reside.
In light of all the voter roll purges, that’s not a given.
You can check your voter registration status by going here or here.
On one or both of those sites, you can also find information on registering to vote if you haven’t, locating your polling place, learning which form of ID you may need, getting details on early voting opportunities, tracking a mail-in ballot, and much more.
Speaking of voting by mail, while this is such a convenient way to vote that President Trump routinely avails himself of it, he does not want you to be able to use this method to cast your ballot.
Therefore, if you can use a drop box or vote in person, try to do it (we will share the pros and cons of the different ways to cast your ballot in a future column and keep permanent links to both on our website through the midterms).
We also advise you not to wait until the last minute to do either. If you can vote early, then do so to ensure that you won’t be disenfranchised by some 11th-hour stunt.
You can find out here or here when and how you can vote in your state ahead of Election Day. The vast majority of states provide this option, with some of them allowing you to cast your ballot as early as two weeks from now.
And once you have checked that you are (still) registered and made a plan for when and how you will vote, share this information with everyone you know and urge them to act as though someone is trying to take this most fundamental right away from them.
Because that’s exactly what is happening, and these midterms may be the last best chance to make your voice heard.
*Yes, we realize that 13 is an arbitrary number but we’re trying to make a point here. The same thing would still be true if we had chosen the top 20 states.
- Klaus MarreKlaus Marre, a former congressional reporter, is a senior editor for US politics at WhoWhatWhy. He writes regularly here, and you can also follow him on Bluesky and Substack.
