President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that the White House said is meant to tighten mail-in voting rules nationwide, including by directing federal agencies to help compile lists of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state, prompting immediate vows of legal challenges from voting-rights groups and Democrats.
Trump Frames Order As Voter Integrity Push
After signing the order in the Oval Office, Trump said, “It’s about voter integrity, we want to have honest voting in our country because if you don’t have honest voting, you can’t have really a nation.”
Reuters reported that the order would use federal data to help state election officials verify voter eligibility. It would also require absentee ballots to be sent only to voters on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list and mandate secure ballot envelopes with unique tracking barcodes.
Trump said he did not see how the order could be successfully challenged in court, while attacking what he called “rogue” and “very bad” judges. “I don’t see how they can challenge it,” he said.
Democrats Promise Court Fight
Democrats quickly signaled they would try. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wrote on social media, “We’re challenging it. See you in court.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) posted a similar warning, saying, “See you in court. You will lose.”
Voting-rights advocates and election experts also said a federal attempt to force changes on state-run election systems would likely fail in court. NAACP President Derrick Johnson, in a statement shared with Reuters, called the order “unconstitutional” and “unserious” and said it would not stand. David Becker, who heads the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said the order was “clearly unconstitutional” and mocked it as the legal equivalent of trying to ban gravity.
Mail Voting Fight Carries Political Irony
The order fits into Trump’s long-running campaign against voting by mail. Yet Trump himself voted by mail in a Florida special election last week, later saying he did so “because I’m president” and because he had “a lot of different things” to do.
Image via Shutterstock/ noamgalai
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