Michigan Sheriff Plans Ballot Seizure as Trump Weighs National Emergency

The U.S. midterm election is approaching under heightened tension.

Election denial has moved from fringe groups to government offices. President Donald Trump has spent months claiming routine voting tasks cause widespread fraud. This stance empowers local officials who share his views to intervene in the process.

In Barry County, Michigan, Sheriff Dar Leaf is leading the charge. For six years, he has circulated claims that foreign nationals hacked voting machines in 2020 to alter results. He is currently investigating whether voter rolls are inflated with non-citizens, a claim studies indicate is rare. Leaf told CBC News he will not back down. He said he would likely seize ballots and then seek a court order if he had a good reason to do so. He is a prominent figure in the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, which encourages members to investigate voter fraud theories.

Federal agencies are also expanding their role in elections. The Department of Justice is battling 30 states for access to sensitive voter data. The FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been tasked with investigating voter fraud. Earlier this year, the FBI seized ballots from Fulton County, Georgia, despite three prior counts affirming the 2020 results. Trump has ordered the Postal Service to restrict mail-in voting and pushed Congress for stricter ID laws. Courts have so far upheld the constitutional principle that states, not the president, control elections.

The prospect of drastic measures is gaining traction among Republicans. Lorenzo Sewell, a Detroit pastor with ties to the administration, argued that a national emergency would allow Trump to stop the use of vote-tabulating machines and halt mail-in voting. Sewell said he advocates for a political movement similar to January 6, minus the violence. Trump told Time magazine earlier this month that he does not rule anything out regarding a state of emergency. Legal experts, including David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, say such a move is likely unconstitutional and would be blocked by courts.

Local officials are preparing for potential conflicts on election day. Autumn Butler, deputy executive director of Michigan United, is training volunteers in de-escalation tactics. She noted that rhetoric has become more violent, referencing a 2020 incident where a crowd disrupted poll workers in Detroit. In Barry County, Clerk Sarah VanDenburg is training poll workers and briefing Sheriff Leaf on rules, such as barring armed officers from polling stations. VanDenburg hopes a community-focused approach will keep the atmosphere calm for voters.