President Donald Trump of the United States has enacted a new executive order intended to tighten election regulations in preparation for the 2026 midterm elections, referencing a claim he has repeatedly made—without substantiation—regarding significant election fraud.
Entitled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” the executive order implements stringent requirements that voters must fulfill to cast their votes.
Here is what we know:
Key Aspects of the New Executive Order
Proof of Citizenship Requirement:
To deter non-citizens from voting in federal elections, which is already illegal and can result in imprisonment and deportation, the order mandates that voters provide official proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate.
Federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are directed to collaborate by sharing data to assist state officials in detecting non-citizens on voter rolls. Nonetheless, voting rights organizations have expressed worries that these citizenship requirements might disenfranchise eligible voters.
“This would prevent only a small fraction of noncitizen voter registration while hindering millions of qualified voters, who may not readily have access to documents like passports, from registering,” stated Richard Hasen, an election law expert from the University of California, Los Angeles, in a blog post.
Concerns have also been raised about married women who have changed their last names, as their birth certificates may reflect their maiden names and complicate the registration process.
The advocacy organization Public Citizen noted that approximately 146 million Americans lack a passport.
Now Trump wants to make it HARDER to vote if your name doesn’t exactly match on every doc?? That hits married folks who change their names, disaster survivors who lost paperwork, and so many others. This ain’t about security—it’s suppression. https://t.co/n7qYiN1i7O
— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@RepJasmine) March 26, 2025
Ballot Submission Deadline:
According to the executive order, all mail ballots must be received by Election Day to be counted, aiming to standardize voting procedures across various states.
Currently, states enjoy considerable discretion in how they manage elections; however, none permit votes to be counted if they are cast after Election Day.
The National Conference of State Legislatures, a nonprofit organization, indicates that 18 states, including pivotal battlegrounds, currently accept mail-in ballots arriving post-Election Day, provided they are postmarked on or before that date.
For example, California, the most populous state, is frequently referenced for its extended vote-counting timeframe—it allows ballots to be counted up to seven days after the election, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.
Federal Funding Conditions:
States that fail to comply with these new requirements risk losing federal funding for elections.
The executive order mandates that “the Attorney General shall take appropriate measures against states that count ballots received after Election Day in federal elections. Federal election funding will be contingent on compliance.”
This could exert significant financial stress on states, particularly those with more flexible voting practices.
Campaign financing occurs at federal, state, and local levels, sourced from individuals, corporations, political action committees (PACs), and occasionally government funds.
In March 2024, Congress allocated $55 million in new federal funding to states under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to improve the administration and security of federal elections.
This funding was apportioned among all U.S. states and territories based on a predetermined formula, considering factors such as the size of the voting-age population.
Data Sharing and Prosecution:
The executive order instructs Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to ensure that states have access to systems for verifying the citizenship or immigration status of individuals registering to vote.
It also directs the Department of Homeland Security, along with an official from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, to review state voter registration lists and, if necessary, issue subpoenas to ensure compliance with federal standards.
“DOGE certainly has no authority to remove individuals from voter rolls. But they could generate a lot of noise claiming they’ve found fraud if they discover that voter registration lists aren’t being maintained properly,” Richard Hasen commented.
President Trump signs executive order on election integrity, which will include putting a citizenship question on the federal voting form. pic.twitter.com/dcUmya6Z8y
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 25, 2025
Will This New Order Face Challenges?
Trump’s order is poised to encounter legal opposition, considering the Constitution grants states authority over elections.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes noted that he and state Attorney General Kris Mayes are already contemplating a lawsuit, labeling the executive order as “an attempt to federalize elections.”
Fontes expressed concerns that the order seems designed to create a façade of electoral misconduct, potentially to justify “canceling the election later.”
“It’s very methodical, and incredibly dangerous,” he stated in an interview with Votebeat, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to U.S. elections, on Tuesday. “You must focus not just on what the executive order articulates, but also on what the ultimate goal may be. I fear the ultimate objective may be for Donald Trump to remain in power indefinitely.”
Who Is Supporting This New Order?
Conservative organizations, including the Heritage Foundation, have applauded the order.
“President Trump is finally taking the crucial steps necessary to enable federal agencies like the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to support states, instead of obstructing their efforts to reform the election system, which was a regrettable aspect of the Biden administration,” remarked Hans von Spakovsky, head of the Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative, in a statement.
Trump has frequently questioned the outcomes of elections that did not favor him, including his 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden, which he inaccurately attributed to widespread voting anomalies.
