How GOP Stole the 2024 Election—And How They're Planning to Steal the 2026 Midterms

The Virginia Supreme Court striking down the will of the people is another example of the two-tiered system governing our country

This morning we awoke to the infuriating news that the Virginia Supreme Court has thrown out Virginia’s redistricting referendum results. This means that while the U.S. Supreme Court says Red states can ignore the will of the people and gerrymander their districts 9-0 in favor of MAGA Republicans, the VA Supreme Court says Blue states cannot put the vote to the will of the people and follow through on the people’s vote to redistrict.

Once again, gerrymandering that centers white people is A-OK but gerrymandering that centers a broad base of voters is not. This is absurd.

It seems clear that our nation is operating on a two-tiered system—one tier in which conservative justices give MAGA Republicans a pass to govern at will, even when in complete violation of established precedent. And another tier in which Democrats and progressives are held to a higher, fabricated standard that undermines the very will of the people.

While some claim that Elon Musk used Starlink to somehow change voting machines to help Trump win the 2024 election, the harsh truth is MAGA Republicans have worked in broad daylight to steal elections through a number of open schemes—the latest being partisan gerrymandering. But here’s the bad news: this is just one of the numerous ways Republicans are stealing our elections, and we need to talk about it.

If we have any hope of saving our republic, we must recognize and repeal the GOP’s real and destructive voter suppression tactics. But how? Let’s Address This.

Tennessee State Rep. Brother Jones burns a Confederate flag in the TN State House after they pass a racist gerrymandered 9-0 map

A few weeks ago I wrote about how the SAVE Act is the MAGA Republican attempt to revive Jim Crow voter suppression in America. This Project 2025 priority is now in full force. Republicans have ‘stolen’ this and other elections through a series of calculated and sophisticated voter suppression bills and policies passed in broad daylight. And unless we repeal these tactics, MAGAs will continue to ‘win’ by denying people the right to vote. Let’s break down four of their more sinister tactics.

1. Gerrymandering

The Virginia State Supreme Court’s decision to undo the will of the people is a reflection of the two tiered system in which we live. No amount of higher voter turnout can solve this problem, because the literal vote of the people is being ignored. Here is a screen grab of their ruling.

Democratic Leader Don Scott issued a statement effectively accepting these results and indicating they would not be appealing it to the U.S. Supreme Court. In my opinion, the refusal of Democrats to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court is a reflection of the lack of fight that continues to allow fascism to advance. This must change. If you get nothing else from this article, understand this point—come next election, particularly the Democratic primary election, support the people-funded candidate who is willing to fight, not the establishment, corporate-funded candidate who backs down.

But let’s back up for a minute, because gerrymandering didn’t just start with Virginia. Once Trump forced Texas to redistrict mid-census and remove five Democratic seats, the gerrymander wars entered a new phase. California and Virginia responded, and now Florida and Tennessee have gerrymandered their states as well. This week, both Florida and Tennessee passed new Congressional district maps. Florida went from 21 Republican and 7 Democratic seats to 24 Republican and 4 Democratic seats. Tennessee went from an already lopsided 8-1, to 9-0 unanimous Republican state.

But note, above I said that gerrymandering entered a new phase. Why?

The Brennan Center for Justice reports that after successfully blocking the Freedom to Vote Act in 2022, which would have issued a massive blow to gerrymandering, Republicans ‘won’ the gerrymander olympics. Put in practical terms, they received a 16 House seat advantage over Democrats in gerrymandered districts. Meaning, all things being equal, Republicans built 16 more supermajority red districts than did Democrats, making it that much more difficult for Democrats to win back the House. This tactic worked in the 2024 election, as Republicans successfully retained the House by less than a 16 seat win.

And now, in the wake of Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court has re-legalized racial gerrymandering. Thus, every Republican state is moving with expediency to eliminate any non-white representation possible. This is a revival of Jim Crow America, and it is being done wholly against the will of the American people. Consider that nearly 90% of Americans oppose gerrymandering. Yet, that will, representing some 300 million people, is being ignored so one fascist in the White House can remain in power.

FL State Rep. Angie Nixon, now running for US Senate, uses a bull horn on the Florida House floor to denounce the new racist maps as unconstitutional

We must continue to raise awareness and activate people across the political spectrum to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and ban partisan gerrymandering.

But the Republican plan to steal the 2026 midterm election does not stop with gerrymandering, that’s only where it begins. Thus, voter suppression bills.

2. Hundreds of Voter Suppression Bills

Republicans on the state level have proposed or passed more than 100 voter suppression bills, specifically targeting Black, brown, and low-income voters. After Trump’s loss in 2020, at least 28 states introduced or passed legislation to “primarily seek to limit mail-in voting access, add voter ID requirements and make it harder to get on or stay on the voter rolls.”

The attempt to pass the SAVE Act on the Federal level advances this absurd requirement. Republicans know that Black and brown voters disproportionately vote Democratic, so rather than change their own policies to attract voters of color, Republicans change laws to restrict voters of color from voting—even if that means shutting down access to the polls.

And speaking of shutting down polling locations, Republicans have gone nuclear in doing so, as the third pillar of their strategy to steal the 2026 election.

3. Shut Down Polling Locations in BIPOC Areas

Since Republicans gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013 in Shelby v. Holder, red states have shut down more than 100,000 polling location in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods. Yes, 100,000+ closed polling locations.

National data from the independent, nonpartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission shows declining polling place availability nationwide. A 2018 survey found more than 200,000 polling places in use. That number dropped to just over 132,000 in 2020’s report, and fell again to 94,793 physical polling places in 2022. Fewer places to cast a ballot can be a barrier to voting for many people, especially low-income individuals who may lack transportation or time off to vote.

Shutting down more than half of all polling locations, while zero demonstrable election fraud exists, is what voters suppression looks like. Texas is one of the worst offenders, and overtly racist in how they closed locations. In fact, a Guardian analysis found that:

The 50 counties that gained the most Black and Latinx residents between 2012 and 2018 closed 542 polling sites, compared to just 34 closures in the 50 counties that have gained the fewest Black and Latinx residents. This is despite the fact that the population in the former group of counties has risen by 2.5 million people, whereas in the latter category the total population has fallen by over 13,000.

Again, none of this is conspiracy or theory. This is the end result of Republicans working hard to restrict voting access, particularly for Black and brown voters. And as you can see, it is working. In addition to shutting down polling locations, Republicans are limiting voting hours, banning Sunday “souls to the polls” drives, and have banned giving water to people waiting in line—knowing full well that their racist policies force Black people to wait twice as long as white people to vote.

That is, assuming voters haven’t been illegally and arbitrarily purged—which is the fourth pillar of the Republican strategy to steal the 2026 election.

4. Purging Millions of Legitimate Voters

Especially in the run up to the 2024 election, Republicans did everything possible to overtly purge voters from voter rolls, all with zero evidence of preventing fraud. My viral tweet on this very topic exceeded 20,000 retweets, 60,000 likes, and 3 million views: (forgive the misspelling of eligible, but such is social media).

The Oklahoma MAGA GOP Governor purged more than 435,000 voters from the voter rolls. Of them, at least 194,962 voters were valid but removed anyway due to made up excuses like ‘address verification.’ And while I stated that Texas purged 500K eligible voters, in fact, the full number of purged names exceeds 1 million, with roughly half of them eligible voters:

About half of the voters removed have died, requested to be taken off or are living in another state, based on figures from the governor’s office. Nearly 7,000 were noncitizens who had registered illegally, and about 6,000 were convicted felons unable to vote. About 463,000 were on what Texas calls its “suspense list,” where counties place voters who don’t respond to requested certification forms. The removal effort is part of a sweeping package of voting restrictions the Texas Legislature passed after the 2020 presidential election.

Note—the “suspense list” has nothing to do with suspicion of illegal or unregistered voting. These are U.S. citizens, already confirmed and registered to vote by showing their ID, and still being purged from the list. As is well documented, this targets low-income individuals and people of color more than white people—hence the continued racist voter suppression. Litigation is one path to rebuke this oppression, however it is not always successful. In Virginia a DOJ lawsuit filed against MAGA Governor Youngkin—for his attempts to purge legitimate voters—ultimately failed before the right wing MAGA Supreme Court.

5. The Disinformation Campaign

Finally, short of Trump sending the military to steal the 2026 election (something he hasn’t ruled out), the next major pillar the GOP uses to undermine elections is the disinformation campaign that any election Donald Trump loses is “rigged.”

As a reminder, a Washington Post and AP study over the last 50 years found no examples of systemic voter fraud, and no examples of voter fraud that could have even remotely overturned any State or Federal election. It is no wonder that Donald Trump shut down his own “voter fraud commission” after finding no such evidence. Moreover, Trump then set up a second commission to “find” voter fraud, but then also shut it down after it found no such fraud.

Therefore, I urge my fellow Americans to reject the conspiracy theories, and instead channel your energy to countering the stated public policy of Republicans, which is to win by suppressing votes and denying voting access. We counter Republicans by urging our members of Congress to expand voting access, registering our friends and neighbors to vote, demanding litigation against voter suppression tactics, and investing resources in the public voices calling out this oppression.

Conclusion

Indeed, we cannot effectively counter disinformation without meaningful awareness of the disinformation.

And this is one reason Let’s Address This exists. If this analysis is helpful to you—if you value having someone track these bills and keep you informed on how to fight back—I need your support. This is a reader-supported publication. Subscribing ensures I can continue researching, writing, and effectively raising awareness on legislation that threatens our democracy. Please subscribe.

We are also building out a voter guide on Sway for our readers to use when going to the ballot box in their respective states. Sway is free to join, easy to use, and an excellent way to organize. Click below to sign up for Sway and let’s organize together.

MAGA Republicans know they cannot win on ideas and policy, so they commit voter suppression in broad daylight. That is the story of actual stolen elections—not a Starlink conspiracy theory. MAGAs are screaming loudly that they have no regard for Democracy or a government represented by We the People. We should believe them, and act to ensure they never have that kind of power again.

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