Judges may face unprecedented decisions this election. A new guide seeks to help

In this file photo from 2024, Pennsylvania poll workers demonstrate how ballots are are received, processed, scanned, and securely stored. Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images hide caption

The idea of federal law enforcement seizing ballots in the middle of an active election would have once been considered impossible.

Now, as President Trump continues his unprecedented hunt for voter fraud, ballot seizures and search warrants are scenarios voting officials and the legal community are actively preparing for.

One state election official, who did not have permission to speak publicly, told NPR their office has led three separate statewide trainings this year to prepare for the possibility of law enforcement seeking to take possession of ballots or election materials while the election is ongoing.

And UCLA's Safeguarding Democracy Project released a guide Wednesday, shared first with NPR, to help judges navigate search warrant affidavits related to the voting process.

"Lots of things that were off the table are now on the table," said Rick Hasen, the director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project, and the guide's lead author.

Trump has said he regrets not pushing harder for the federal government to seize election equipment after the 2020 election. Already this year, two different search warrants, executed in Fulton County, Ga., and Riverside County, Calif., involved the seizure of ballots.

All that has voting officials preparing for different worst case scenarios this fall.