Election Integrity: How Voting Rules Are Being Changed Before the 2026 Midterms

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In Episodes 6 through 9, Surviving Trump examined how political power can be shaped long before Election Day — through gerrymandering and census manipulation.

In Episode 10, Bella Goode turns to the next layer: the rules of voting itself.

This episode explains how changes to voter registration, mail and early voting, voting machines, and federal “election security” enforcement are being pursued ahead of the 2026 midterms — and how those changes affect who can participate, whose votes are counted, and which outcomes are treated as legitimate.

Rather than focusing on past elections, this episode looks at what is happening now, how it fits together, and where it is headed.

What This Episode Covers

• How voter registration rules are being tightened through proof-of-citizenship requirements and federal data demands
• Why mail-in voting and early voting are being targeted — and who is most affected
• Efforts to restrict voting machines and expand hand counts
• Federal involvement in local election systems, including the Fulton County ballot seizure
• How “election integrity” language is being used to justify intimidation and control
• What Democrats, courts, and civil society groups are doing to push back
• Where institutions are holding — and where they are falling short
• What still matters at the local level before 2026

Why It Matters

Elections are not only shaped by how people vote, but by who is allowed to participate, which methods are permitted, and who controls the process.

This episode shows how those rules are being rewritten before ballots are cast — and why the fight over election integrity is really a fight over access, control, and legitimacy.

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Bella Goode is a pseudonym — but the voice, research, and mission are all real. A Republican turned Democrat advocate in 2016, I was raised by middle class parents in Pennsylvania. I’m a former marketing executive, entrepreneur, and lifelong learner with an MBA from Wharton and a Master’s in Psychology from Penn. I spent decades telling stories in the business world; now I use those skills to connect the dots in American politics.

I’m here because the truth matters — and because the stakes have never been higher. Surviving Trump isn’t lighthearted. It’s clarity, evidence, and a fight for the future of our democracy.

Follow my blog on Substack https://survivingtrumppodcast.substack.com