Trump Is Building a National Voter List — And It's Worse Than You Think | Sen. Alex Padilla

Trump Is Building a National Voter List — And It's Worse Than You Think | Sen. Alex Padilla

From Defending Democracy with Marc Elias by Democracy Docket

April 4, 2026 · 24 min

About this episode

Senator Alex Padilla discusses Trump's executive order on voter lists and its implications for mail-in ballots.

Senator Alex Padilla joins Marc Elias to discuss Trump's "flat out unconstitutional" executive order demanding that the Department of Homeland Security make a list of citizens. It gets worse: Only those on that list will receive mail-in ballots. Support Democracy Docket's mission: https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/youtube 00:00 Welcome Today’s Guest: Alex Padilla 00:37 State of the SAVE Act & Senate Standoff 01:58 How Democrats Are Blocking the Bill Daily 03:12 Can Republicans Bypass the Filibuster? 05:08 Lawsuits, Media Coverage & Florida’s Version of the Bill 06:30 Why Republicans Target California 10:01 Breaking Down Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Elections 12:28 Where Are Congressional Republicans? 15:00 Padilla Reflects on Being Physically Confronted by Federal Forces 18:22 ICE Expansion, Detention Conditions & Oversight Battles 21:27 California Ballot Seizure Controversy & Election Threats

People in this episode

Host: Marc Elias

Guest: Alex Padilla

Topics covered

  • voter suppression
  • executive orders
  • mail-in ballots
  • political standoff
  • lawsuits
  • election integrity

Keywords

  • Trump
  • voter list
  • California
  • mail-in ballots
  • SAVE Act
  • filibuster
  • lawsuits
  • election threats

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Department of Homeland Security, ICE, Democrats, Republicans

Places: California, Florida

More episodes of Defending Democracy with Marc Elias

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Defending Democracy with Marc Elias podcast page.