Election Expert says Trump could HIJACK Voting Machines to Flip Dem votes

Marc Elias warns that election-denier allies are urging Trump to seize or control voting machines and ballots ahead of the midterms.

VIDEO

In a roughly 1.5-hour live video and podcast episode titled “Election Deniers Beg Trump to HIJACK Voting Machines” posted around October 9–10, 2026, by Democracy Docket founder and Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias, he analyzes recent reports of pressure on the Trump administration from election-denial figures.

The core claims center on former Colorado Mesa County clerk Tina Peters (convicted in connection with a 2021 election-equipment security breach, later released after a state commutation, and a longtime promoter of 2020 fraud theories). She reportedly met with President Trump in the Oval Office. Her attorney, Peter Ticktin, described her plan in a podcast appearance: grab control of ballots “as soon as the machine spits them through” and then conduct a recount, on the theory that this would neutralize any machine effects. Ticktin also discussed scenarios involving martial law or not “relinquishing control” if results were deemed “rigged,” framing it in the context of potential congressional outcomes that could threaten the administration.

Elias and related reporting also cover parallel ideas from Cleta Mitchell (a lawyer who participated in the 2020 Trump-Raffensperger call) and others. They argue that a 2019 Trump executive order on securing the information and communications technology supply chain already gives the Commerce Secretary (Howard Lutnick) authority to act against voting machines containing foreign-made components (citing statements from DHS officials about Chinese or Russian parts). Proposals have included regulatory intervention, last-minute changes, or broader federal involvement rather than a pure “seize everything” order. Peters has previously called for the Department of Defense to take custody of machines as “evidence.” Elias notes that similar ideas circulated in 2020 but were blocked by Trump’s own Justice Department and lawyers.