Washinton Post: Trump Urged to Declare Emergency Powers & Seize Election Powers

[samsingh]

4. States will not allow that

The Constitution reserves election authority to states and Congress

Article I, Section 4 assigns election regulation primarily to state legislatures and Congress. There’s no provision that gives the president direct authority to take over election administration nationwide by executive order alone.

🔹 Emergency powers are limited and untested in this domain

Existing emergency statutes (like the National Emergencies Act) have been used to sanction foreign entities and address genuine foreign threats in other contexts, but they do not explicitly grant a president the authority to override state electoral administration in the way this draft would intend. Legal experts widely characterize the draft’s legal rationale as extremely weak or unconstitutional.