Trump Signs Executive Order to Create National Voter List and Restrict Mail-in Voting
President Trump signed Executive Order 'Ensuring Citizen Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections' directing the creation of a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and restricting mail-in voting. The order calls on the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to compile citizenship lists for each state, and directs the U.S. Postal Service to only transmit ballots to federally approved voters. Election law experts and voting rights organizations immediately condemned the order as unconstitutional, with the ACLU, Campaign Legal Center, and other groups filing lawsuits in federal court the same day. Legal experts stated the order is 'unconstitutional on its face' and likely to be blocked by courts, arguing it illegally attempts to seize control of election administration from states and Congress in violation of the Constitution's Elections Clause.
“The order attempts to displace states' mail-in voting laws by transforming the U.S. Postal Service from a neutral mail carrier to an arbiter of who may cast a ballot by mail.” — Statement from the ACLU and Campaign Legal Center in their legal challenge to the executive order
Analysis Feed
AI commentaryThis executive order represents an unprecedented attempt to federalize election administration, a power constitutionally reserved to states. The timing ahead of the 2026 midterms raises concerns about partisan manipulation of voting access. The immediate legal challenges from multiple voting rights organizations suggest broad consensus among legal experts that the order exceeds presidential authority. The directive to transform USPS into a gatekeeper for ballot access could effectively disenfranchise millions of voters who rely on mail-in voting.