Trump signs order on mail-in ballots and federally run voter lists as critics vow legal challenges
Washington — President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requiring states to impose stricter mail-in voting rules and directing his administration to create a list of confirmed U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state.
The additional requirements, made without any action by Congress, are all but certain to face challenges in the courts. It's not clear whether or how the order will affect the midterm primary elections, which are already underway in many states.
"The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary," the president said in the Oval Office ahead of the signing. He said requiring voters to show identification and proof of citizenship will be issues for another time.
The order requires the newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to create a list of U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state, using data from the Social Security Administration, a White House official told CBS News. It also says the U.S. Postal Service may only send absentee ballots to people on each state's federally prepared approved mail-in ballot list. There will be one envelope per ballot.
States that don't go along with the executive order are at risk of losing federal funding, a White House official said.
It's not clear what would happen if an eligible U.S. citizen is accidentally or improperly left off the list. The Daily Caller was first to report the outline of the executive order.
The order comes as the president has expressed frustration with Congress for not passing additional restrictions on mail-in voting, which he has called "mail-in cheating" and has alleged — without evidence — is rife with fraud. Mr. Trump voted by mail in Florida's special election earlier this month, even though he was in town while early in-person voting was available. He defended voting by mail because he's the president.
Mr. Trump has been publicly pushing Congress to pass the SAVE Act, which would include proof-of-citizenship requirements aimed at preventing non-citizens from registering to vote, something that is already against the law. Instances of non-citizens voting have occurred, but they're rare. According to the Trump-aligned Heritage Foundation, since 2000, there have been roughly 100 verified cases of noncitizens voting.
Mr. Trump's efforts to change mail-in voting rules without an act of Congress are likely to draw legal challenges. The Constitution gives states the authority to set election rules, and while Congress can pass regulations in some cases, experts say the president has virtually no legal role in overseeing elections.
Shortly before Tuesday's order was signed, Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias posted on X: "If Trump signs an unconstitutional Executive Order to take over voting, we will sue. I don't bluff and I usually win."
Democratic officials have strongly criticized the executive order. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called it "nothing more than a push to weaponize the sensitive personal information of voters in this country," and vowed that he "will not let this order stand without a fight and will meet the federal government in court."
CBS News reported earlier this week that the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security are close to finalizing an agreement that will allow the federal government to use sensitive voter registration data for immigration and criminal investigations, according to sources with direct knowledge of the plan. The Justice Department's controversial collection of voter roll data is being litigated in dozens of states, and the department has not disclosed its data-sharing plans to any of the courts.
The Justice Department has sued states for failing to turn over statewide voter rolls sought by Attorney General Pam Bondi. In September, suits were filed against the top election officials in California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, alleging their failure to provide voter registration rolls violates federal law.
