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On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order focusing on voter registration and voter eligibility, calling the move a major step in restoring trust in American elections.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said the order was aimed at “maintaining the integrity of voters and mail-in ballots” and “stopping the massive fraud that has occurred.”
“We will be signing an executive order,” Trump said. “It’s, I believe it’s stupid… I think it’s pretty obvious what’s being said.”
The order directs federal agencies to work with states to create lists of eligible voters using state citizenship and ID data, while also directing the US Postal Service to develop new safeguards for incoming ballots, including barcode tracking and verification methods.
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President Donald Trump signs an executive order addressing mail-in ballots in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, in Washington, DC. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Under the order, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) working with the Social Security Administration and other federal databases, will create and share a “State Citizen List” with state election officials.
The list is intended to identify individuals who are certified US citizens who will be at least 18 years of age at the time of the state election and who reside in that state.
Those lists will be revised and forwarded to the states before the federal election, according to the order.
The order also directs the attorney general to prioritize investigations and possible prosecutions involving officials or others who issue ballots to ineligible voters in state elections, as well as those involved in the “printing, production, delivery, or distribution of ballots” to ineligible voters.
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President Donald Trump speaks to members of the assembled media after signing an executive order, Tuesday, in the Oval Office. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
For mail ballots, the executive order asks the postmaster general to begin the rulemaking process within 60 days. Proposed changes include requiring ballots to be clearly marked as official election mail, including a unique Smart Mail barcode or similar tracking technology, and revisions to the Postal Service’s design.
The order also outlines a system under which states will notify the USPS if they plan to use walk-in or absentee ballots and provide a list of eligible voters, allowing the Postal Service to maintain participation records associated with ballot distribution.
Trump planned the changes as a direct response to what he described as a long-standing weakness in postal voting.
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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, left, looks on as President Donald Trump prepares to sign an executive order addressing mail-in voting. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
“Cheating in postal voting is a common practice,” he said. “What’s wrong.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration wants a system that combines each ballot with a traceable envelope.
“If you voted by mail, you’ll have it in the envelope,” Lutnick said. “There will be a million envelopes … and you will know for sure that the citizens voted.”
Trump said additional election-related measures, including voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements, are also being considered.
“We would like to have voter ID, we would like to have proof of citizenship… we are working on that,” he said.
He also said that the opposition to such measures is related to politics.
“People who don’t want to do voter ID are delusional people,” Trump said.
Trump acknowledged that the order may face legal challenges but said he believes he will withstand them.
“I don’t know how it can be challenged,” Trump said after signing the order. “You can get a corrupt judge … but that’s the only way it can be changed.”
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The executive order says voting in federal elections is reserved for “citizens of the United States only” and says additional safeguards are needed to “maintain public confidence in election results.” It also says voting identifiers such as barcodes can help ensure only eligible voters get to and vote.
Trump cast the issue in a very broad way.
“If you don’t have honest voting,” he said, “you can’t really have a nation.”
