Trump signs order tightening mail-in voting, drawing swift legal threats

By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday tightening rules on mail‑in voting nationwide, including directing his administration to compile a list of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state, drawing immediate threats of legal challenges from voting rights groups and Democrats.

The order would use federal data to help state election officials verify who is eligible to vote. It would also require absentee ballots to be sent only to voters on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list and mandate secure ballot envelopes with unique tracking barcodes.

Trump said he did not see how the order could be successfully challenged in court, arguing only a judge could block it and complaining about what he called “rogue” and “very bad” judges.

“I don’t see how they can challenge it,” he said.

Voting rights groups, election experts and Democratic officials swiftly rejected that claim, saying federal efforts to force changes to state-run election systems would not survive in court.

“Not only is his order unconstitutional, it’s unserious,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “This order will not stand.”

David Becker, head of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said in a social media post the order was “clearly unconstitutional” and would be blocked immediately, adding Trump “might as well sign an EO banning gravity.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom said on X that “The President wants to limit which Americans can participate in our democracy. California will see him in court.”

The Republican president has for years pushed the false claim that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud and has called for tighter rules on voting by mail ahead of the November midterm elections, when his party will be trying to defend its narrow majorities in Congress.

The order comes as the Senate weighs the SAVE America Act, a measure Trump has made a top priority, arguing it would help Republicans in the midterms.

The bill, which passed the House in February, would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot. It faces long odds in the Senate, where Republicans lack the 60 votes needed to overcome Democratic opposition.

Trump’s vocal opposition to voting by mail did not stop him from casting his own vote that way in a special election in Florida last week. Asked about it, he said he cast a ballot by mail recently “because I’m president” and “I had a lot of different things” to do.

The president has previously used executive action to direct federal agencies to help states verify voter citizenship and sought to bar states from counting mail ballots received after Election Day, a direct challenge to election procedures traditionally set by the states.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; editing by Scott Malone, Michelle Nichols, Colleen Jenkins and Chris Reese)