Patheos PT 4020. Changing Election Day 2026 Weather. Marc Elias on Redeeming America’s Future 12
In my Substack 4019 post, “Election Day Weather Report: Storm; Tripp Fuller on Redeeming America’s Future 11, I offered my weather forecast for Tuesday, November 3, 2026. My prediction? Stormy weather.
What I did not provide in that post was an umbrella. Or better, a plan to change the weather itself. So, now I ask: just who might we consult for changing the weather? My friend, Paula Ruddy, recommends we consult Mark Elias. So, do I.
Preparing for the Election Day 2026 storm
On Democracy Docket, like me, Marc Elias predicts a storm for America’s upcoming Election Day. But Elias offers added value. He is laying plans to stop the stealing of the midterm and other future elections. He has 7 actionable ideas to recommend.
Marc Elias recommends that state legislatures….
- Ban all third-party objections to voter status, especially by DOJ.
- Make voter intimidation a criminal offense with teeth.
- Every blue state should revise its certification rules to strengthen vote counting procedures.
Marc Elias recommends that the US Congress take the following prophylactic actions immediately….
- Prohibit Federal law enforcement coming closer than 500 feet of any voting location.
- Prohibit Federal officials from stealing any investigative prerogatives of local law enforcement 30 days before Election Day and 7 days following the date the last person of Congress is seated.
- Pass a Federal law requiring all grand juries approving arrests or search warrants that involve elections to be confirmed by the US Senate for the district in question.
- Clarify confusing forms of immunity by denying immunity of any kind to anyone who interferes or denies any qualified individual the right to vote or to have their ballot counted. Due process still applies to those accused, to be sure.
In the tralatitious wisdom of public theologians such as Reinhold Niebuhr and Tripp Fuller, Marc Elias’ recommendations are at minimum expedient and, if the winds blow the right direction, perhaps propitious (Peters, 2018).
Conclusion
Marc Elias recommends these seven measures because he retains confidence in legislatures, both local and national. I worry this might underestimate the Machiavellian cunning of the current administration. The White House has already demonstrated its capacity for ignoring laws and even ignoring court orders to obey those laws. Be that as it may, what Elias recommends for Election Day 2026 is still sound advice.
Whatever measures we the Americans take between now and November, they must embody the peace and justice we intend to prevail in the post-crisis era.
Let me close by repeating Timothy Snyder’s maxim: “Freedom is not just an absence of evil but the presence of good” (Snyder 2014, x).
Patheos PT 4020 Changing Election Day 2026 Weather. Marc Elias on Redeeming America’s Future 12
Patheos PT 3282 Corruption and Cruelty without Conscience
Substack PT 4007 Redeeming America’s Justice ONE. The U.S. Department of Just-Us
Substack PT 4008 Redeeming America’s Justice TWO. The U.S. Department of Just-Us
Substack PT 4009 Redeeming America’s Justice THREE. The U.S. Department of Just-Us
Substack PT 4013 Love Melts Ice. Redeeming America’s Future 5
Substack PT 4014 Saving Democracy with Martin Luther King: The Church as the Conscience of the State. Redeeming America’s Future 6
Substack PT 4015 Revenge in the Voice of Satan: Choose Love for America’s Future 7
Substack PT 4016 POTUS Power over Life and Death: Redeeming America’s Future 8
Substack PT 4017 Countering the Cursing in American Language. Redeeming America’s Future 9
Substack PT 4018 Public Theology, Political Symbolization, and Discourse Clarification. Eric Voegelin Redeeming America’s Future 10
Substack PT 4019 Election Day Weather Report: Storm. Tripp Fuller on Redeeming America’s Future 11
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Meet Ted Peters. For Patheos and Substack, Ted Peters posts articles and notices in the field of Public Theology. He is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and emeritus professor at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union. His single volume systematic theology, God—The World’s Future, is now in the 3rd edition. He has also authored God as Trinity plus Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society as well as Sin Boldly: Justifying Faith for Fragile and Broken Souls. He recently published. The Voice of Public Theology, with ATF Press. See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com and Patheos blog site.
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References
Peters, Ted. 2018. “Public Theology: Its Pastoral, Apologetic, Scientific, Political, and Prophetic Tasks.” International Journal of Public Theology 12:2 153-177.
Snyder, Timothy. 2014. On Freedom. New York: Crown.
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