Marc Elias: We must be prepared for Trump's next moves next year and fight them.

"In my 35 years as an election lawyer, I’ve seen good election nights and bad ones.
Nov. 4 was a good one — for both Democrats and democracy. Democrats won everything, everywhere, all at once....History has taught us that this is precisely when Donald Trump is most dangerous... With the 2026 midterm elections less than a year away, Trump is already plotting his next moves.
Here's what we all need to prepare for:

1. Republicans will falsely claim they lost because of fraud.
Even before the first votes were cast, Trump was already alleging massive fraud in California. As Election Day unfolded, he doubled down on that lie and promised a criminal investigation...
Meanwhile, Elon Musk suggested that New York City’s ballot itself was a form of voter fraud, while right-wing activists made similar baseless claims in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

In the days and weeks to come, this rhetoric will intensify and spread ... amplified by right-wing media and anti-voting advocates ...This is by design. Undermining the legitimacy of the 2025 elections is central to the GOP’s strategy to preemptively discredit the 2026 midterms.

2. Trump will try to ban several popular methods of voting.
... But mail-in voting isn’t his only target. He has also vowed to prohibit early in-person voting and certain voting machines ... on top of his efforts to impose strict nationwide voter ID laws and burdensome voter registration rules.
Collectively, Trump and the Republican Party are preparing to wage an all-out assault on ... Democratic voters to exercise their rights.

3. Republicans will further exploit the levers of federal power.
Trump ... issued executive orders aimed at making voting more difficult...
Trump said he wanted the Senate to change its rules ... to enact new voting restrictions.
His Department of Justice filed lawsuits to access sensitive voter data ... sent DOJ poll monitors into California and New Jersey.

While none of these efforts prevented the GOP’s staggering losses, we must recognize that this was only a test run. Expect to see military deployment in more U.S. cities, deeper federal involvement in the voting process, and a more aggressive DOJ presence in court.

4. Trump will claim the power to count ballots, tabulate results and certify elections.
December 2020, he met in the White House to consider signing an executive order to seize voting equipment in Georgia. Only the threat of mass resignations stopped him from doing so.
This time, there may be no roadblocks. The DOJ will not slow him down — it will execute his wishes. It will fall to the courts, not to internal resistance ...

5. Extreme Republican gerrymandering will accelerate.
After Election Day, pressure will mount on more Republican-controlled states to adopt ... extreme maps and silence voters.

With the Voting Rights Act under siege, expect southern states to expand their unconstitutional mission. Republican officials will move quickly to racially target districts where minority voters currently have the power to elect their preferred candidates.

6. Republicans will ask courts to legitimize their actions.
Republicans are already litigating ...free and fair elections. The Department of Justice is suing eight states to access sensitive voter data on tens of millions ... The administration is also asking the Supreme Court to overturn the Voting Rights Act and weaken campaign finance laws.

... this will intensify — more aggressive, ... frequent and more coordinated — in 2026. The network of right-wing, anti-voting groups is vast and well-funded. Pam Bondi will do whatever Trump requires ... to hold power after 2026.

7. Political prosecutions will increase.
... the abuse of the criminal process to target Trump’s ... opponents... is a tactic he relishes ... that authoritarians around the globe use to consolidate power and cripple opposition movements. Expect a sharp uptick next year.

8. The legacy media will fail us.
... I wrote a year ago: We are on our own.
The legacy media has surrendered to Trump ... It is not standing up to his authoritarian power grabs — and it will not protect free and fair elections.
Now is the time to support independent, pro-democracy media.
I started Democracy Docket in 2020 to provide the news, information and analysis you need to understand moments like this...."
https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/what-comes-next-after-the-2025-elections/