President Donald Trump’s proposal to nationalize elections in some parts of the United States drew a public response from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who said the Constitution assigns election authority to the states.
Abbott addressed the issue when reporters asked about Trump’s remarks during a recent campaign event in Houston.
“Listen, my understanding of the United States Constitution, uh, and that is elections for state positions are to be conducted by states, and I don’t think we should deviate from that,” Abbott said.
Trump discussed the idea at least twice in February. During a Feb. 2 appearance on former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s podcast, Trump said Republicans should “take over the voting in at least … 15 places” and “nationalize the voting.”
Two days later, in an interview with NBC News, Trump denied using the term “nationalize” but cited concerns about election integrity.
“I didn’t say national. I said there are some areas in our country that are extremely corrupt,” Trump said, naming Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta. “I say that we cannot have corrupt elections if we have to, if they don’t straighten out.”
The administration has not introduced a formal proposal. University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus said any plan to nationalize elections would require congressional approval.
“If this was to move forward they would have to have congressional approval,” Rottinghaus said. “The president could not do this on his own through executive order or any other unilateral means.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was referring to the SAVE America Act, a legislative proposal that would require proof of citizenship for federal voters and mail-in ballot applicants and require states to ensure that only U.S. citizens register to vote. The House has passed several versions of the bill, but the Senate has not approved them.
Some Republican leaders also raised constitutional concerns. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said decentralized voting systems offer security benefits.
“That’s a constitutional issue,” Thune said. “It’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack one.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said state administration of elections is a “system that works well,” while adding that states must prioritize election integrity.
Abbott has also warned that Texas could assume control of Harris County elections. In a social media post referencing a report that the county’s tax office found more than 100 voter registrations linked to private post office boxes in violation of state law, Abbott wrote that Harris County is a “repeat violator of election integrity” and said state officials should take over.
Since 2018, Texas lawmakers have changed Harris County’s election structure by eliminating the county’s independent elections administrator and prohibiting some voting methods introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including drive-thru voting. Abbott has accused the county of violating state laws intended to strengthen election integrity.
Rottinghaus said voter fraud cases occur but are infrequent.
“Vote fraud is very rare. It’s very real, but very rare,” he said.
Abbott and Trump have often aligned on election policies. Abbott supported a mid-decade redistricting effort after initially expressing resistance, and Texas later provided voter data to the U.S. Department of Justice as federal officials sought nationwide voter information.
Abbott also criticized voting rights legislation proposed during former President Joe Biden’s administration that would have required some states to obtain Department of Justice approval before changing voting laws and established national standards for early voting, mail-in voting and voter identification.
Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said Republican leaders have historically supported state control over elections.
“It’s not surprising to see Abbott cool to Trump’s request to nationalize elections, both because the Constitution is so clear that this is a state power,” Blank said.
Blank said federal oversight could complicate election administration if different rules applied to federal and state contests.
“If you say the requirement for the federal elections is that you need to have a clear citizenship check, but for state elections you don’t or vice versa, well then ultimately you’re setting up two different systems,” Blank said.
He added that nationwide changes would likely not affect procedures in time for the 2026 midterm elections.
“These are things that have played out over time, in various ways, but it’s not clean, and it’s certainly not something that happens in six months,” Blank said.
Trump’s second presidential term is scheduled to end in early 2029. Blank said political leaders may consider future electoral implications as discussions about federal involvement in elections continue.
“Trump’s breaking with Republican tradition and orthodoxy, and while most of the time, he’s still going to get his way, not all the time,” Blank said.
