Trump signs executive order to overhaul voting

The order marks a push to increase the executive branch’s influence over elections, creating new proof-of-citizenship requirements and blocking absentee ballots received after polling day.

Donald Trump displays an executive order after signing it in the Oval Office. Picture; AFP.

Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to reshape how elections are carried out in the US by setting new identification requirements for voter registration and prohibiting the counting of absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

The order marks a significant push to increase the executive branch’s influence over elections, which are administered by the states. Trump’s latest action threatens to pull the small amount earmarked by Congress for elections from states that fail to meet the provisions. It will likely be challenged in court.

The order creates new proof-of-citizenship requirements for people attempting to register to vote through federal forms. Most people register to vote via their state. The requirements include providing documentary proof of citizenship like a passport or a Real ID-compliant drivers license for national mail voter registration. The order also enlists the Justice Department and the commissioner of Social Security in efforts to find ineligible voters.

Trump has tasked the Department of Government Efficiency, which is advised by Elon Musk, with wading into sensitive voter registration data to look for inaccuracies. Earlier this month several federal judges blocked DOGE members from accessing other federal databases that contain Americans’ personal information.

A voter uses a ballot drop box in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Picture: AFP

Portions of Tuesday’s order mirrors the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, which was supported by House Speaker Mike Johnson, and was reintroduced this year after failing to make it out of the Senate in 2024. Critics of the bill say implementing it could block US citizens who have changed their names or haven’t updated their passports from registering. They say it would also place unwieldy burdens on state administrators to create or expand policies and access to sensitive information databases.

Trump doesn’t have the authority to issue an executive order establishing new identification requirements to register to vote, said Wendy Weiser, vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice, a left-leaning advocacy organisation.

“This would actually harm eligible American citizens,” Weiser said. “This would be tens of millions of American citizens who could be excluded from registering from voting.” Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee, applauded the order.

“Requiring proof of citizenship, paper ballot trails, and investigating fraud are all commonsense steps to protect the vote,” Whatley said.

Trump and his fellow Republicans have repeated misleading claims that large numbers of non-citizens have voted in US elections. It is illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, and states have layers of protection to verify that voters casting ballots are eligible. Studies by groups across the political spectrum have found no evidence of ineligible immigrants ever voting in sufficient numbers to affect an election outcome.

All states regularly audit their voter rolls, removing outdated registrations when voters move or become ineligible to vote. The vast majority of votes in the US are already cast with a paper record.

Several states operate their elections almost entirely by mail, and report no significant numbers of fraudulent votes.

“Free, fair, and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic,” the executive order said. “The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election.” The order directs the Justice Department to take “all necessary action” against states that count mail-in or absentee ballots received after election day. Non-compliant states would have federal election funding withheld, the order said.

Trump’s order calls for the US Election Assistance Commission to implement many of its provisions, a sharp departure from its longstanding role in the largely hands-off federal approach to running elections. Congress with the 2002 Help America Vote Act created the EAC as an independent, bipartisan body that creates guidelines and voluntary standards for voting machines. The agency does administer annually appropriated grants, usually for equipment upgrades, but was given very limited rule-making authority.

“This effort is entirely an attempt by the White House to seize power that apparently it thinks Congress won’t give it,” said David Becker, director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research.

Dow Jones