President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order titled "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections," which aims to standardize and tighten voting procedures across the United States. The new order adds onerous statewide voter ID and ballot-return requirements. This statistical issue has been met with alarm at the prospect of lawsuits and at its effect on an orderly electoral process. This order’s funding has been distributed among all U.S. states and territories, proportionate to each area’s population. This distribution is made according to a detailed formula that considers things like the relative size of each state’s voting-age population.
Then-Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, was given an unequivocal order. She needs to do everything in her power so that all states can access systems to verify the citizenship or immigration status of those who register to vote. The executive order mandates that voters provide government documents as evidence of U.S. citizenship. They require an acceptable form of identification such as a U.S. passport or a birth certificate in order to vote. All mail ballots must be in hand by Election Day to be counted. States that don’t comply with these new requirements face losing their share of federal election funding.
Federal Agencies and Data Sharing
Federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are required to share data with state officials to help identify non-citizens on voter rolls. The executive order, on its face, seeks to address legitimate concerns about electoral fraud. Some critics argue that all it does is provide a vehicle for the creation of an illusion of that misconduct.
“President Trump is finally taking the action long needed to put the resources of federal agencies like the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to work helping states, instead of trying to hinder their efforts to reform our election process, which was an unfortunate hallmark of the Biden administration,” stated Hans von Spakovsky.
These provisions are meant to help the federal government assist states to keep their voter registration lists clean. As critics point out, these requirements can disenfranchise eligible voters who don’t have convenient access to the required documentation.
Legal Challenges on the Horizon
The executive order will almost certainly be challenged in the courts, since the Constitution vests authorities over elections to the states. The Attorney General needs to act decisively against states that continue to allow counting ballots received postmarked after Election Day. This directive only applies to federal elections.
“You have to pay attention not to what the executive order says, but what the end game may be. I believe the end game may be that Donald Trump wants to stay in office in perpetuity,” commented Adrian Fontes.
Legal experts suggest that the order's stipulations could be challenged on constitutional grounds, questioning federal overreach into state-managed electoral processes.
“This would prevent only a tiny amount of noncitizen voter registration but stop millions of eligible voters, who do not have easy access to documents such as passports, from registering to vote,” expressed Richard Hasen.
Now, new opponents of the order fear that these new rules will disproportionately affect certain segments of the voting populace. They are particularly worried about people who will have a harder time getting the required ID.
Impact on Voter Access
By requiring all voters to present official proof of citizenship, the executive order creates a burden for many eligible voters. Many critics have pointed out that instead of improving election security, this bill is another step toward voter suppression.
“That hits married folks who change their names, disaster survivors who lost paperwork, and so many others. This ain’t about security—it’s suppression,” stated Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett.
Worries are mounting over the new expectations. Or they can make them a new big administrative burden on state election officials who’d have to implement them. In an effort to create a uniform, standardized voting process across every state, we are making the process complicated and even inaccessible to millions of voters in key demographics.
