Trump’s Executive Order Plan
President Donald Trump has made plans to sign an executive order that demands voter identification for all Americans who vote in federal elections. Speaking from his Truth Social platform, Trump posted: “Voter ID Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS!” He further promised to greatly limit mail-in voting, only providing it to the seriously ill or serving members of the military overseas.
The statement is a component of his longtime effort to reform the US voting system, which he has repeatedly asserted bogusly was corrupted by voter fraud in the 2020 contest against Joe Biden. Trump has also pushed to end electronic voting machines for paper ballots and hand counts, even though election officials caution that those practices are more expensive, slower, and less reliable.
Legal and Constitutional Obstacles
Legal analysts are saying Trump’s order is unlikely to survive judicial review. The US Constitution gives election power chiefly to states and Congress, but not the president. In March, a federal judge prohibited aspects of Trump’s order mandating proof of citizenship to vote, saying it was unconstitutional. Trump’s new scheme, critics say, meets the same fate.
This legal standoff highlights a recurring theme in Trump’s efforts: stretching presidential authority into areas traditionally left to state legislatures. Any attempt to enforce federal voter ID requirements could spark years of litigation, potentially reaching the Supreme Court.
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Impact on Voters
While 36 states currently have voter ID laws, millions of Americans would be impacted by a broad federal requirement. Estimates from studies place 11 percent of eligible voters without the sort of identification needed under strict measures, with the percentage higher still among minorities, the elderly, low-income individuals, students, and people with disabilities.
Civil rights organizations caution that the plan disenfranchises millions. For instance, 146 million Americans are without a passport, and numerous others are in need of fresh birth certificates or citizenship documents, especially married women who’ve changed their names. Contrary to Trump’s repeated assertions that mail-in voting encourages fraud, he has voted by mail himself, and 2024 results indicated that states with high mail-in participation such as Republican Utah conducted safe elections.
As the 2026 midterm elections draw near, Trump’s order will probably become a focal point for legal and political battle, with Democrats gearing up to challenge what they term an unconstitutional effort to limit votes in the name of election security.
