(LifeSiteNews) — President Trump has signed an executive order that aims to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections.
Titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” the order comes as the “SAVE America Act” — which would impose proof of citizenship and voter ID requirements across the country — has passed in the U.S. House but appears to be interminably stalled in the Senate, where 60 votes are necessary for passage.
Trump has repeatedly called on Congress to pass the measure and has grown impatient over the legislature’s inaction concerning an issue that is viewed as a top priority by a majority of Americans, according to multiple polls.
Trump has repeatedly demanded the Senate change its filibuster rules to let most legislation pass by a simple majority vote. Republican leadership has resisted.
The measure has been deemed necessary in order to prevent non-citizens from voting in federal elections and to protect the security of mail-in and absentee ballots.
To achieve the president’s goal, the order proposes modernizing and securing mail-in and absentee ballot procedures through the United States Postal Service (USPS).
“Unlike the Biden Administration, which pursued its political agenda instead of fair elections, President Trump is putting the American people back in charge,” declared a statement from the White House following promulgation of the order.
Trump’s order addresses several government agencies to play roles in strengthening federal election integrity, including Homeland Security, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. Post Office (USPS).
The order directs the secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Social Security Administration, to compile and transmit to each state a State Citizenship List of confirmed U.S. citizens who will be 18 or older at the time of the next upcoming federal election and reside in that state.
It directs the U.S. Postmaster General to initiate rule-making to require all mail-in and absentee ballots transmitted by USPS to be placed in secure ballot envelopes marked as Official Election Mail with unique Intelligent Mail barcodes that facilitate tracking.
It further requires the USPS to transmit ballots only to individuals “enrolled on a State-specific Mail-in and Absentee Participation List, ensuring that only eligible absentee or mail-in voters receive absentee or mail-in ballots.”
The U.S. Attorney General is directed to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of election officials and individuals who violate the law by issuing or distributing federal ballots to ineligible voters, and in coordination with other relevant agencies, withhold Federal funds from noncompliant states and localities, as appropriate.
“That’s a big deal,” Trump said as he signed the order on Tuesday. “I think this will help a lot with elections. We’d like to have voter ID. We’d like to have proof of citizenship, and that’ll be another subject for another time. We’re working on that. You would think it’d be easy.”
Trump’s move to secure federal elections is rooted, in part, in his view that he was “cheated” in the 2020 election which he lost to Joe Biden.
“I won three times,” claimed Trump. “I won three times convincingly.”
While Trump averred that he didn’t think that courts would be able to overturn the order, election experts weren’t so sure, predicting that the executive order would be deemed unconstitutional.
“This will be blocked by the federal courts before the ink is dry,” David Becker, founder of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, told NBC News.
“The Constitution clearly gives the power to regulate these issues related to mail ballots to the states,” said Becker. “The president has been excluded by the framers from dictating election policy to the states.”
Not long after retaking office last year, Trump signed an executive order taking first steps toward tightening American election rules, including by requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The order required “documentary proof of United States citizenship” be added to voter registration forms, such as a U.S. passport, a REAL ID identification document, a military ID card designating citizenship, or a valid government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, as long as it denotes citizenship.
The courts blocked many of the 2025 order’s provisions.
