Foreign-Backed Group Pushes U.S. Voter Drive

For years, Donald Trump was accused of conspiring with foreign entities to help win the presidency.

Becoming perhaps the most investigated figure in modern American political history, the two-term president denied the allegations, arguing instead that his political opponents were the ones benefiting from outside influence.

Now, as the 2026 midterm elections approach, a Germany-based organization is encouraging overseas support for a U.S. voter mobilization drive that it believes could influence closely contested congressional races—an effort critics say is unlikely to benefit Republicans.

The recommendation appears in a report by the Berlin-based nonprofit Power for Democracies, which urges both American and foreign donors to financially support the campaign, describing expanded voter registration and turnout as one of the most effective ways to shape electoral outcomes.

In its State of U.S. Democracy report, the Berlin organization argues that registering more voters and increasing turnout is one of the most cost-effective ways to strengthen democracy in the United States.

The report identifies Freedom2Vote as its top recommendation, describing it as an organization that “can receive funds from both U.S. and foreign donors” and whose voter engagement methods have been validated through randomized controlled trials.

Freedom2Vote is not a standalone nonprofit. Public records show it is a voter engagement program operated by Civitech PBC, a Texas-based civic technology company, and financially supported by Notley Impact, an Austin-based 501(c)(3) charitable organization that accepts tax-deductible donations on the program’s behalf.

The organization says it conducts nonpartisan voter registration and outreach to increase election participation. Supporters of stricter election laws argue that such efforts are more susceptible to abuse when citizenship is not verified through documentary proof.

Power for Democracies recommends expanding those efforts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, arguing that bringing more people into the electorate could affect closely contested House and Senate races.

As the Senate continues to debate President Trump’s SAVE Act—which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and strengthen voter verification requirements—supporters argue that foreign-backed influence campaigns could exploit election systems that rely primarily on self-certification of citizenship.

According to the Power for Democracies report, Freedom2Vote’s voter mobilization strategy has been measured in dozens of randomized controlled trials and is capable of generating enough additional votes to “change the outcomes of national elections.”

Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from making contributions or expenditures in connection with U.S. elections. Nonprofit organizations, however, may lawfully conduct nonpartisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities if they comply with applicable federal tax and election laws. There has been no public finding that Freedom2Vote violated federal election laws.

Power for Democracies is led by Markus N. Beeko, the former secretary-general of Amnesty International Germany and a longtime civil society activist and campaign strategist.