Eric Swalwell has a way of slipping under the radar among members of Congress who routinely operate with what seems like a double-digit IQ. Usually it’s the Squad who takes home that trophy — and for good reason — but every now and then Swalwell pops up to remind everyone he’s absolutely in the running.
The California Democrat, best known for his security-risk romance with a Chinese spy, has now decided he’s ready for a promotion: he’s jumping into the 2026 California governor’s race. Naturally, he announced this comedy routine on Jimmy Kimmel — because where else would he go?
And then it got even funnier.
During a weekend appearance on CNN, Swalwell unveiled one of his first “big ideas” for the 2026 campaign. Brace yourself: he wants Californians to vote by phone.
No, this is not satire. No, The Babylon Bee didn’t write it. This is an actual proposal from a man who thinks he should run the largest state in America.
“I want us to be able to vote by phone. I think every Californian— vote by phone, yeah, if we can do our taxes, do our… healthcare appointments… essentially do your banking online, you should be able to vote by phone,” he said.
“Make it safe, make it secure. But it’s actually already happening all over the United States. I want us to be a blue state that doesn’t do just a little bit better than, like, Georgia or Alabama, when it comes to like, voting access,” Swalwell explained. “I want us to max out democracy.”
? SWALWELL: “I want us to be able to vote by phone … I want us to max out democracy.” pic.twitter.com/74cVtwYDi8
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) November 22, 2025
The phrase “max out democracy” sounds like something cooked up in a brainstorming session run by a 17-year-old intern who just discovered political buzzwords. It’s peak Swalwell: empty sloganeering dressed up as innovation.
And predictably, the idea went over like a lead balloon.
Swalwell was absolutely roasted for the proposal — and rightly so. Even in California, where bad ideas often get a second life, the notion of voting by phone was so absurd that people across the political spectrum tore it apart on sight.
“Vote by phone so every 13-year-old with mom’s iPhone can pick the governor. Eric Swalwell just invented election fraud 2.0,” one X user wrote. “Genius level: room temperature IQ.”
“This is the worst voting idea I’ve EVER heard. That would be an abject disaster,” Eric Daugherty, Chief Content Officer for Florida’s Voice, added.
“Democrats always want more cheating in our elections,” conservative commentator Paul Szypula responded to the idea.
Fact check: 100 percent true.
As it stands, exactly zero U.S. states allow universal voting by phone — not by app, not by voicemail, not by text message — in any federal, state, or local election. And there’s a good reason for that: the security, privacy, and verification issues are so glaring that anyone with more than three functioning brain cells can see the problem instantly.
A handful of states have run small pilot programs for online or mobile voting — but only for very limited groups like deployed military, overseas citizens, or voters with certain disabilities. And even those programs are tightly controlled, often requiring biometric verification or operating only within specific counties. In other words: nothing even close to the universal “vote by phone” free-for-all Swalwell is fantasizing about.
Why? Because phone voting collapses on the three pillars of election integrity: authentication, secrecy, and verifiability.
Phone numbers can be spoofed in seconds. SIM cards get hijacked constantly. Fake numbers can be bought by the thousands. There’s no reliable way to prove the person casting the vote is actually the registered voter.
The fraud alarms aren’t just blinking — they’re blaring like a five-alarm fire.
But what looks like a disaster to normal people seems like a golden opportunity to Swalwell.
This is the same logic behind Democrats’ endless pushes to weaken voter ID laws. It’s never about “maxing out democracy” — it’s about maxing out ambiguity, loosening verification, and letting as many unverified ballots as possible flow into the system.
When elections become impossible to audit, Democrats call it “access.” When integrity collapses, they call it “inclusion.” And when you question any of it, they call you the threat to democracy.
