Election denial and interference efforts before the Nov. 2026 midterms: pardons, the Tina Peters case, Georgia's federal-intervention letters and National Guard troops near a DC ballot box

Synthesis

Ahead of the Nov. 2026 midterms, people who tried to overturn or interfere with the 2020 election have received presidential clemency, and Republican officials are pressing federal agencies to intervene in state voting systems. Trump pardoned nearly all Jan. 6 defendants in 2025 and 77 people tied to the fake-electors effort in Nov. 2025, though federal pardons do not cover state charges. Tina Peters, convicted in state court, was released after Colorado's governor commuted her sentence, not through Trump's announced pardon. In Georgia, the State Election Board's executive director asked the DOJ and DHS to force changes to the state's voting system weeks before the election, going beyond what the board approved. The 2020 election was not stolen, and courts rejected the challenges.

Pardons for people who tried to overturn or disrupt the 2020 result
On Jan. 20, 2025, his first day back in office, Trump pardoned nearly all Jan. 6 defendants and commuted the sentences of 14 people convicted on more serious charges. More than 1,500 people had been charged for the attack that temporarily stopped Congress's certification of Biden's 2020 win, including more than 100 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or seriously injuring a police officer.
In November 2025, Trump signed federal pardons for 77 people tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to a list released by Pardon Attorney Ed Martin. It includes Rudy Giuliani, Kenneth Chesebro, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Jeffrey Clark, Sidney Powell and alleged false electors from several states, among them Michigan's 16 Republican electors.
The proclamation describes the pardons as addressing a grave national injustice.
A federal pardon does not apply to state charges, so the November 2025 pardons do not shield recipients from state prosecutions over the 2020 election.
Sidney Powell, one of those pardoned, had pleaded guilty in 2023 to charges connected to the Georgia election case.

Tina Peters: jailed, a pardon that carried no legal force, then early release
Tina Peters, a Republican former Mesa County, Colorado clerk, was convicted in state court in 2024 over allowing an unauthorized person to access the county's Dominion voting machines after the 2020 election, and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
On Dec. 11, 2025, Trump announced a "full pardon" for Peters. Because she was convicted of state crimes, the president lacks the authority to pardon her. Only Colorado's governor, Jared Polis, could.
Time described Peters as the only Trump ally then imprisoned in connection with efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
After Trump pressured Polis, the governor commuted her nearly nine-year sentence to 4.5 years. She was released on parole on June 1, 2026. Polis wrote that she was convicted of serious crimes but that the sentence was unusually long for a first-time, non-violent offender.
Shortly after her release, Peters repeated on Steve Bannon's podcast her claim that voting machines cheated Trump in 2020. Her later meetings with Trump are covered in the separate entry on federal control of the midterms.

Georgia State Election Board letters to DOJ and DHS (Sept.-Oct. 2026)
On Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, Georgia's Republican-majority State Election Board voted 3-2 for a resolution directing executive director James Mills to seek help "from any quarter," including the Justice and Homeland Security departments, on the state's voting equipment, and urging Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to pursue a software update.
Mills then sent letters to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Outlets differ on whether they went out Sept. 30 or Oct. 1.
The letters asked the Justice Department to compel state and county officials to install specific newer software before the November election, to prohibit QR-code-based vote tabulation, and to set a binding six-month deadline for Georgia to move away from it.
They also asked the Justice Department to investigate the secretary of state's office over allegations that it withheld or altered election records, according to Reuters.
Board chair John Fervier told Votebeat that Mills drafted and sent the letters on his own and that they went well beyond what the board had approved. Two board members said they never approved the demands.
The AJC reports that election officials and voting experts say the requested changes cannot be done this close to the midterms, with early in-person voting set to begin within about two weeks. It also reports there is no indication Georgia's machines have been tampered with during an election.
Democracy Docket, an advocacy outlet, reports that the federal Election Assistance Commission has certified Georgia's machines, that Georgia law bars equipment the commission has not certified, and that the Justice Department has no legal power to declare machines unlawful or seize them on its own. It also reports Mullin has separately asked the Justice Department to declare QR-code machines unlawful under the Help America Vote Act.
Neither the Justice Department nor Homeland Security has publicly said whether it will act on Mills' requests.

The fraud claims behind the push
The 2020 election was not stolen. Biden won, and Trump and his allies lost more than 60 lawsuits challenging the result.
The AJC reports that Georgia's State Election Board has often served as a platform for election skeptics, and that a year earlier its right-wing majority revived a fight over the 2020 election and called on the Justice Department to intervene.
Real fraud cases have been used to argue for sweeping claims. The Trump campaign cited the Paterson, N.J. case in a lawsuit to stop New Jersey's mail-in voting program, and a federal judge dismissed that suit in October 2020, two weeks before the election, calling the allegations highly speculative fear.

What is not established
No source reviewed says the fake electors or lawyers pardoned in November 2025 served prison time for those acts. The documented cases of people jailed and then pardoned or released are the Jan. 6 defendants and Tina Peters, and Peters left prison through the governor's commutation, not Trump's announced pardon.
Whether the Justice Department or Homeland Security will act on the Georgia requests, and whether Mills' letters reflect a coordinated effort with federal officials, has not been reported.
No source reviewed supports the claim that only Republicans commit election fraud. Charges have also been brought against Democrats, for example Paterson, N.J. councilmen Michael Jackson and Alex Mendez, charged in 2020 over collecting mail-in ballots in a May 2020 special election; they said they would plead not guilty, and the outcome was not checked. A handful of cases on either side does not show whether fraud is more common in one party, or that it changed any outcome.
In the Paterson case, Jackson and Mendez were indicted and pleaded not guilty, charges against two campaign workers were later dropped, and further charges, including witness tampering, were added against Mendez. The coverage found describes the case as dragging on for years and reports no conviction. Its current status was not checked.

Earlier cycle: 2016 Russia-investigation convictions and pardons
In 2020, near the end of his first term, Trump pardoned Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and in December pardoned Paul Manafort and Roger Stone. All four were prosecuted in or because of Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump had commuted Stone's sentence in July.
Manafort, Trump's 2016 campaign chairman, had been sentenced to 7.5 years for financial crimes and illegal lobbying, and the pardon spared him most of that term. Stone was convicted by a jury of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction, and his commutation came a day before he was due to begin a sentence of more than three years.
Those convictions were for lying, obstruction, witness tampering and financial or lobbying crimes uncovered by the probe. None was a conviction for tampering with votes or vote counts, so these cases are a different kind of "election interference" from the 2020 cases above.

Cases involving Republican candidates and officials (charged or alleged, none pardoned)
In St. Johns County, Florida, five Republicans were charged in July 2026 over a fake voter guide sent to voters before the August 2024 primary. It falsely presented itself as the county Republican Executive Committee's official endorsement slate. County commissioners Sarah Arnold and Christian Whitehurst and St. Augustine Beach commissioner Dylan Rumrell each face misdemeanor charges, including conspiracy and producing a false voter guide.
Political consultant Brianna Jordan faces the only felony charges, including tampering with physical evidence. Charging documents allege she designed the scheme, and about 30,000 fake mailers were reportedly distributed in one race. The three elected officials pleaded not guilty. The county Republican Party chair said the charges vindicate the party's account.
In Massachusetts, the State Ballot Law Commission ruled in late June 2026 that Republican candidates Anne Manning Martin (lieutenant governor) and Michael Walsh (attorney general) were ineligible for the September primary ballot, invalidating 1,279 of Martin's 10,692 signatures and 1,021 of Walsh's 10,677. The commission found Martin's signature gatherer, who invoked the Fifth Amendment, had something to hide, and a handwriting expert said many of Walsh's signatures were likely written by one person.
The Massachusetts candidates are appealing. Walsh argues the expert only found indications of fraud, below the more-likely-than-not standard. A Republican rival said the candidates were victims of rogue consultants. No criminal charges against the candidates were reported in the coverage reviewed.

National Guard near a DC ballot drop box (Oct. 8, 2026)
On Oct. 8, 2026, three National Guard members were filmed standing near a ballot drop box outside the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station in Washington, D.C., with one directly in front of it. The video was posted by a local commentator, and the DC Board of Elections confirmed it received complaints.
The box was reportedly locked and inactive at the time. DC's 55 drop boxes opened the next morning, Oct. 9, and stay open through 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. The soldiers reportedly left shortly after filming began; how long they were there is unclear.
The Board of Elections asked the Guard to limit where service members are placed near drop boxes and other voting locations. Joint Task Force-DC said it was aware of the imagery, that Guard members are explicitly directed not to monitor or secure polling locations, and that it was addressing the matter.
Two Guard officials told the Washington Post the soldiers were part of a larger patrol and were not assigned to guard the box, and that troops receive training about avoiding ballot boxes. One official said the point would be reiterated to soldiers.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton asked the Guard for answers about this and a separate video, which she said shows armed Guard personnel gathered around a drop box, with one person saying they had not received instructions to avoid drop boxes. That video was not reviewed here, and the statement conflicts with the officials' account of training.
Nearly 3,000 Guard troops were deployed in DC as of early October 2026, and the deployment is expected to continue into early 2029. Whether anyone directed the soldiers to stand at the box is not established; the orders and guidance JTF-DC gave about voting locations have not been made public in the coverage found.

Perspectives

Editorial read — The Author (site author), thesis
People who attacked or tried to overturn the 2020 result have been pardoned or released, while allies keep pushing unproven fraud claims and federal intervention weeks before the midterms. The Author sees a pattern of rewarding election interference and laying groundwork for the next one. The record shows the pardons, Peters' release, and the Georgia letters. It does not show that these are coordinated, and the Georgia letters went beyond what that state's board approved.

Official position — Trump administration (pardon proclamation)
The administration says the November 2025 pardons correct a grave national injustice done to people involved in efforts around the 2020 election. Trump has said Tina Peters was trying to expose voter fraud.

Defender — Republican members of Georgia's State Election Board
Board member Salleigh Grubbs has said the secretary of state has known about vulnerabilities in the state's voting system that could be mitigated and has not done his job. Supporters of the resolution say the equipment should be updated before the election.

Critic — Georgia board chair John Fervier and board member Sara Tindall Ghazal
Chair John Fervier said executive director James Mills sent letters that went far beyond what the board approved and that the board has little control over him. Sara Tindall Ghazal, the board's sole Democrat, questioned how a system used for years is suddenly out of compliance with federal law.

Critic — Historian Robert Paxton (fascism scholar)
Said Jan. 6 removed his earlier reservations about calling Trump a fascist, citing the Trump movement's solid social base. He has also said the word generates more heat than light and has urged being more explicit about the specific danger Trump represents.

Expert view — Historians who reject the fascism label (e.g., those surveyed by History News Network)
In an informal 2016 survey of 16 historians of fascist-era countries, the vast majority did not consider Trump a fascist, most often because he does not lead a coherent movement with a specific ethos. They saw similarities in particulars or rhetorical style, not sufficient proof. Other scholars use narrower terms such as competitive authoritarianism for election-related behavior, as Levitsky and Way do.

Editorial read — The Author (site author), on the fascism label
The Author's view is that the pattern described in this entry (pardons for people who tried to overturn or disrupt the 2020 result, repeated fraud claims that courts rejected, and federal pressure on state election machinery) is fascism on the political spectrum, and that the tactics are escalating ahead of the 2026 midterms. This is the Author's characterization. Scholars disagree about whether "fascism" or a narrower term such as competitive authoritarianism fits best; see the two scholarly perspectives below. The entry's documented findings stand on their own regardless of the label.

Editorial read — The Author (site author), on the drop box incident
The Author's view is that standing in uniform beside a clearly marked ballot drop box is unlikely to have been an accident or a misunderstanding, given the box's size and lettering, the Guard's own statement that troops are trained to avoid ballot boxes, and the earlier video of Guard members near a drop box. This is the Author's reading of the photo and the reporting. The reporting does not establish whether the soldiers chose the spot themselves or were directed, and the Guard says it was a patrol stop, not an assignment.

Research notes
Open leads, as of Oct. 10, 2026:
- The Author's framing is that people were arrested and jailed for interfering in elections and pardoned, across all three Trump elections (2016, 2020, 2024). Documented so far: 2016 cycle, Mueller-probe figures (Flynn, Papadopoulos, Manafort, Stone) pardoned in 2020, but their convictions were for lying, obstruction and financial crimes rather than tampering with an election. 2020 cycle, Jan. 6 defendants (many jailed, nearly all pardoned), Tina Peters (jailed, announced pardon legally ineffective, released by Colorado commutation) and the 77 fake-elector and lawyer pardons (no reporting found that they were jailed; federal pardons do not reach state charges). 2024 cycle: the St. Johns County, Florida fake voter guide case (charged July 2026, not convicted, state charges, no pardon); no case found of someone jailed for interfering in the 2024 election and pardoned. Need the Author's specific 2024 examples, and any other 2016 cases, before adding them.
- The Author's view that Republicans are "the only ones" committing election fraud is not supported by the sources reviewed; the entry notes cases on both sides (Paterson, N.J.). A systematic cross-party database comparison has not been done.
- Need the primary proclamation for the Nov. 2025 pardons (DOJ Pardon Attorney page) and the exact date; secondary sources give it as November 2025.
- Need a primary copy of James Mills' Georgia letters; the description here comes from Votebeat, the AJC, Democracy Docket and Reuters (via Raw Story). Outlets differ on whether they were sent Sept. 30 or Oct. 1.
- Florida Politics' report on the St. Johns County charges was blocked (402) when fetched; the description comes from Action News Jax, News4Jax and WOKV. Status of Brianna Jordan's felony case and the other defendants' court dates not checked. Outcome of the Massachusetts appeals and of the Paterson case not checked.
- Not yet checked: whether DOJ or DHS has acted on the Georgia requests, the Aug. 2026 DHS letter asking DOJ to declare QR-code voting machines unlawful under HAVA, Georgia's early-voting start date, and the status of the remaining state fake-elector cases (Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia).
- A Rachel Maddow / MS NOW clip about the Georgia letter describes Mills as a "MAGA election denier." That characterization is the outlet's and is not used as a source here.
- Possible additions: other arrests or charges of Republican election officials or operatives, DOJ election monitors, and Zacharia's election claims once she starts as press secretary.

Note
Trump and allies describe their actions as election-integrity work and the pardons as correcting a "grave national injustice"; courts and election officials of both parties have found no evidence the 2020 election was stolen.

Sources
[1] Roll Call: Trump pardons nearly all Jan. 6 defendants, orders prison releases (https://rollcall.com/2025/01/20/trump-pardons-nearly-all-jan-6-defendants-orders-prison-releases/) · 2025-01-20
[2] Michigan Advance: Trump pardons Michigan's alleged false electors (https://michiganadvance.com/?p=98290) · 2025-11
[3] Wisconsin Examiner (States Newsroom): list of newly pardoned Trump fake electors and allies (https://wisconsinexaminer.com/?p=42170) · 2025-11
[4] NPR: Trump says he's 'pardoned' a Colorado clerk convicted of election tampering. Can he? (https://www.npr.org/2025/12/12/nx-s1-5641984/trump-says-hes-pardoned-a-colorado-clerk-convicted-of-election-tampering-can-he) · 2025-12-12
[5] Time: Trump announces he's pardoning a county official convicted of tampering with voting machines (https://time.com/7340460/trump-pardon-tina-peters-jared-polis-2020-election/) · 2025-12
[6] NPR: Trump ally convicted in Colorado vote tampering case released from prison early (https://www.npr.org/2026/06/01/nx-s1-5843071/trump-ally-convicted-of-in-colorado-vote-tampering-case-released-from-prison-early) · 2026-06-01
[7] KMPH (TNND): Tina Peters released from prison after Polis commutes sentence (https://kmph.com/news/nation-world/ex-colorado-elections-clerk-tina-peters-released-from-prison-after-polis-commutes-sentence-president-trump-steve-bannon-jena-griswold-democratic-party) · 2026-06
[8] Votebeat: Georgia election board director sent Trump administration demands two board members say they never approved (https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/10/04/georgia-election-board-mills-federal-letters-dhs-doj-board-approval/) · 2026-10-04
[9] Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia board asks Trump administration to investigate voting machines (https://www.ajc.com/politics/2026/10/georgia-board-trump-investigate-voting-machines/) · 2026-10
[10] Atlanta Journal-Constitution: State Election Board pressures secretary of state to update voting machines (https://www.ajc.com/politics/2026/09/georgia-state-election-board-pressures-secretary-of-state-to-update-voting-machines/) · 2026-09
[11] Democracy Docket: GOP-controlled Georgia election board asks DOJ to declare state's voting machines illegal (https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/gop-controlled-georgia-election-board-asks-doj-to-declare-states-voting-machines-illegal/) · 2026-10
[12] Raw Story (Reuters copy): GOP board defies chair in demand that Trump DOJ declare state's voting machines illegal (https://www.rawstory.com/georgia-elections-2677978035/) · 2026-10
[13] PolitiFact via PBS NewsHour: 2020 election was not stolen (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-check-trumps-2024-win-doesnt-prove-claims-that-the-2020-election-was-stolen) · 2024-11-07
[14] Reuters via KSL: Trump pardons former campaign chairman Manafort, associate Roger Stone (https://www.ksl.com/article/news/politics/trump-pardons-former-campaign-chairman-manafort-associate-roger-stone/50072819) · 2020-12-23
[15] Boston Globe: Trump pardons Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and father of Jared Kushner (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/23/nation/trump-pardons-paul-manafort-charles-kushner) · 2020-12-23
[16] Action News Jax: Three St. Johns County elected officials charged in alleged election fraud scheme (https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/three-st-johns-county-elected-officials-charged-alleged-election-fraud-scheme/GDTVRTFDDNB7DFLPBZ6VC5XXWU/) · 2026-07
[17] News4Jax: St. Johns County commissioner calls for 2 sitting commissioners accused in fake voter guide scheme to step down (https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2026/07/07/st-johns-county-commissioner-calls-for-2-sitting-commissioners-accused-in-fake-voter-guide-scheme-to-step-down/) · 2026-07-07
[18] WOKV (Action News Jax): St. Johns County officials plead not guilty in fake voter guide case (https://www.wokv.com/news/local/st-johns-county/3-st-johns-county-elected-officials-charged-alleged-election-fraud-scheme-plead-not-guilty/A43SNKNBCZB4XG4MZJ72TF5AVA/) · 2026-07
[19] Boston.com: State commission disqualifies GOP candidates for AG, Lt. Gov. after signature fraud allegations (https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2026/07/01/state-commission-disqualifies-gop-candidates-for-ag-lt-gov-after-signature-fraud-allegations/) · 2026-07-01
[20] The New Republic: Republicans in Two Different States Caught Committing Election Fraud (https://newrepublic.com/post/212823/republicans-massachusetts-florida-election-fraud) · 2026-07-08
[21] New Jersey Attorney General: voting fraud charges against Paterson councilmen Michael Jackson, Alex Mendez and two others (https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases20/pr20200625a.html) · 2020-06-25
[22] NBC New York: Additional voter fraud-related charges filed against Paterson City Council president (https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-jersey/voter-fraud-related-charges-paterson-city-council-president/6245376/)
[23] FOX 5 NY: 2 indicted for election fraud in Paterson council race (https://www.fox5ny.com/news/2-indicted-election-fraud-in-paterson-council-race) · 2021
[24] ABC News: What is fascism? A look at the term being hurled at Donald Trump (https://abc13.com/post/what-is-fascism-look-term-being-hurled-donald-trump/15467954/) · 2024-10-25
[25] History News Network: We Asked 16 Historians If They Think Trump Is a Fascist (https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/we-asked-16-historians-if-they-think-trump-is-a-fa)
[26] WFAE: Is the U.S. slipping into 'competitive authoritarianism'? (https://www.wfae.org/world/2026-05-13/is-the-u-s-slipping-into-competitive-authoritarianism) · 2026-05-13
[27] WUSA9: National Guard asked to limit placement of soldiers near voting locations (https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/politics/elections/national-guard-near-ballot-drop-box-dc/65-ae4ab453-0e38-4bf0-bf62-ec7d786ab797) · 2026-10-09
[28] Yahoo News (Task & Purpose): National Guard says it is 'actively addressing' incident of troops near DC ballot drop box (https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/national-guard-says-actively-addressing-220118356.html) · 2026-10-09
[29] Raw Story (Washington Post reporting): National Guard breaks silence as alarms blare over troops near D.C. ballot box (https://www.rawstory.com/national-guard-dc-2678068473/) · 2026-10-09
[30] Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton: Norton demands answers from Joint Task Force, National Guard Bureau and D.C. National Guard (https://norton.house.gov/media/press-releases/norton-demands-answers-joint-task-force-national-guard-bureau-and-dc-national)

Connections

Same context — DOJ Civil Rights Division hiring under Harmeet Dhillon: about 130 new lawyers, NYT investigation (Oct. 7, 2026)
Georgia's letters went to Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon, whose division's hiring and election-monitoring role is covered in the other entry.

Related — Katie Zacharia's Nov. 2025 post tying the abortion pill to Zyklon B via I.G. Farben (screenshot reviewed Oct. 2026)
Zacharia, named press secretary Oct. 9, 2026, is reported to have promoted the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

Same context — Mail delays, USPS postmark changes, armed guards at postal plants and the DHS voter-records hunt: Hartmann's "election trap" claims checked (Oct. 2026)
Both track pre-midterm pressure on voting systems; that entry covers pardons, Georgia's letters to DOJ and DHS, and National Guard troops near a DC drop box, and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin appears in both.

Same context — Thesis: Trump and allies are pushing for federal control over the 2026 midterm elections
Both track the push before the 2026 midterms; the thesis covers Peters' White House meetings and the federal executive order, this entry covers pardons and the Georgia letters.