President Donald Trump mentioned on Aug. 30 that he has determined to concern an government order to request that federal elections require the presentation of voter ID as a way to solid a poll.
“Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. No exceptions!” Trump wrote on a publish on Reality Social. “I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!”
The president didn’t give a timeline for his order. The midterm elections can be held on Nov. 3, 2026. States have authority over learn how to maintain their elections so long as they adjust to federal prohibitions.
The president additionally repeated his opposition to the widespread adoption of mail-in ballots and the usage of digital voting methods, though this time he didn’t say they might be the topic of any government motion.
“Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. Use paper ballots only!!!” he mentioned.
Earlier this month, Trump had pledged to concern an government order forward of the 2026 midterm elections to finish the usage of mail-in ballots and return to the usage of paper ballots as a substitute of voting machines.
In March, Trump issued an government order to require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for registering to vote in federal elections. The order was to implement that states meet the citizenship requirement for federal elections for requiring government-issued ID of their voter registration kinds.
The order additionally sought to overtake election guidelines associated to different points of election legislation enforcement, similar to voting deadlines, digital voting machine safety, and overseas interference in U.S. elections.
The president mentioned the modifications have been supposed to safeguard the vote towards what he describes as “fraud, errors, or suspicion.”
Authorized teams filed swimsuit, claiming that the order exceeded presidential authority, and a federal decide agreed partially with the plaintiffs, blocking implementation of a lot of the manager order whereas permitting a directive to tighten mail-in poll deadlines across the nation to stay in pressure.
After the Supreme Courtroom issued a judgment in late June in an unrelated case, limiting the judicial department from granting nationwide injunctions, the federal decide within the elections case amended her injunction in mid-July within the case to use solely to the 19 Democratic-led states that filed the criticism.
The Trump administration has appealed the ruling with the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the First Circuit, arguing that the enforcement sought within the government order doesn’t alter present federal statutes or violate the Structure.
“The Executive has interpreted the law for centuries—this is nothing new, and certainly nothing constitutionally objectionable. But, in any event, the President’s interpretation of those laws accords with their text, purpose, and history, and he has the authority to interpret for the Executive Branch what they require,” authorities attorneys argued.
Trump additionally pushed for the passage of the SAVE Act, a serious overhaul of federal election legislation that was handed by the Home however floundered within the Senate, the place it might have required help from Democratic lawmakers to go.
On the state degree, Texas Republicans, at Trump’s urging, lately handed laws to redraw their state’s congressional maps to extend Republicans’ maintain on the U.S. Home delegation by 5 seats. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the invoice into legislation on Aug. 29. California lawmakers have responded with a push to extend Democrats’ maintain over California’s U.S. Home delegation.
Joseph Lord, Jack Phillips, and Jackson Richman contributed to this report.
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