Trump signs order tightening US mail-in voting rules
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at tightening mail-in voting rules nationwide, including instructing his administration to create a list of verified citizens eligible to vote in each state, and said he did not see how the measure could be challenged.
The decision will use federal data to help state election officials verify who is eligible to vote in their jurisdictions. It would also require absentee ballots to be sent only to voters on each state’s approved mail ballot list and require “secure ballot” envelopes with unique tracking barcodes.
Any move to make changes to state-run election systems is likely to face immediate legal challenges.
On Tuesday, Trump said only one judge could block the decision and complained that there were too many “rogue” and “very bad” judges.
“I don’t see how they could object to that,” he said of the executive order.
The Republican president has for years maintained his false claim that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud and has called for tightening mail-in voting rules ahead of the November midterm elections, in which his party will seek to preserve its narrow majority in Congress.
His vocal opposition to voting by mail did not stop Trump from casting his own ballot that way in last week’s special election in Florida. When asked about it, he said he recently voted by mail because “I’m the president” and “I have a lot of different things to do.”
He has previously used executive action to direct federal agencies to help states verify voter citizenship and has sought to block states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day, a direct challenge to election procedures traditionally set by states.
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