EMILY KWONG, HOST:
The power to regulate federal elections rests with states and Congress. Yet this week, President Trump urged Republicans to take over voting operations in a number of states.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We should take over the voting in at least many - 15 places - the Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.
KWONG: That was the president speaking on Dan Bongino's podcast Monday. In a later interview with NBC, Trump doubled down on his comments and listed Atlanta, Philadelphia and Detroit - all Democratic cities - as targets for federal involvement. The president has repeatedly questioned the integrity of election systems, despite there being no evidence of widespread voter fraud. And also this week, Steve Bannon, the former Trump strategist, said on his podcast "War Room"...
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STEVE BANNON: We're going to have ICE surround the polls come November.
KWONG: To better understand why these comments are significant, we have Wendy Weiser joining us. She's the vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, a think tank and voting rights advocacy group. Welcome.
WENDY WEISER: Thank you for having me.
KWONG: Help me understand these comments. What would it mean to nationalize the vote?
WEISER: One thing that's really important for people to know is that actually, the president has no role in running elections in our country. In our country, elections are run by the states and 10,000 local jurisdictions across the country.
KWONG: Yeah.
WEISER: And the Constitution makes it clear that it is states that regulate federal elections. Congress can pass laws overriding that, but the president has no role.
KWONG: So the midterms - they're basically around the corner. What are local officials doing to protect state-run elections?
WEISER: Election officials are doing what they always do, which is preparing furiously to ensure free and fair elections and planning for every possible disruption that might come their way. The Trump administration has been trying to gather up all of the sensitive voter information from the voter rolls across the country. The law requires states to maintain and secure that information. These are these - and most states and most state officials, Republican and Democratic, have refused to turn over that sensitive voter information.
KWONG: Going back to Steve Bannon's comments on his podcast, when he says, we're going to have ICE agents surround the pools, what do we need to understand about a comment like that?
WEISER: This is a threat. It is prohibited for there to be any troops or any armed federal agents of any sort anywhere near where voting or elections are being conducted. There is very clear federal law, both civil and criminal laws...
KWONG: Right.
WEISER: ...That prohibit intimidation of voters.
KWONG: And yet, I think the deployment of the National Guard in various cities has made people question, like, maybe agents can appear at will, at the wish of the president and his administration.
WEISER: That's certainly a valid concern. I am confident that courts will move quickly if that happens to try to prohibit it. But I do think election officials, voters, communities are planning just in case - in case the administration does not follow the law - to make sure that voters and all voters feel safe in their communities and participating. And voters can also plan ahead, think about, you know, voting early or voting by mail if they're worried in their communities. But this is - this would be clearly unlawful and inappropriate.
KWONG: Republican lawmakers are working to advance their own voting law, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, which would require voters to show passports or birth certificates in order to vote. If this act passes, first of all, do you think it could pass? And second of all, how would it affect voting?
WEISER: The SAVE Act is a vote suppression bill. It would block millions of American citizens from voting. It requires you to show a passport or birth certificate, as you said, in order to register to vote.
KWONG: Yeah.
WEISER: And 21 million eligible American citizens don't have ready access to those documents. Roughly half of Americans don't even have a passport. Many of us don't even know where our birth certificate is. The SAVE Act would really upend elections...
KWONG: Yeah.
WEISER: ...And block millions of Americans. It is a real risk. I think there's going to be likely a vote on the House floor this week or next, and Americans should pay attention. This is their representative, so this is an opportunity to make their voices heard.
KWONG: What is the accumulative effect of the administration's questioning of election security, particularly in this midterm year?
WEISER: This is shaking voters' confidence in the system. It's actually creating fear among election administrators nationwide who are working really hard, but they are now under a lot of direct threats from the federal government.
But I do want to reinforce that our elections are still strong. We still have - they are still administered. We have a backbone of election workers across the country who know their jobs. We have elected state and federal election laws that are on the voters' side here. And we have many, many people and entities who are working very hard to secure the elections and to ensure that the election is free and fair.
KWONG: That's Wendy Weiser, of the Brennan Center for Justice. Thank you so much for talking to us.
WEISER: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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