Trump signs a new executive order on voting. Experts say he lacks the authority
Source: NPR
March 31, 2026 7:43 PM ET
President Trump has escalated his efforts to reshape American elections, signing an executive order that seeks to create lists of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state, and instructs the U.S. Postal Service to play a larger role in states' mail voting programs.
Trump said in the Oval Office Tuesday that he believes the order is "foolproof" and may or may not be tested in court. But election experts said the order was unconstitutional and prominent voting rights attorneys quickly threatened to sue to block the order from going into effect.
A previous executive order on elections, signed about a year ago, has been blocked by federal judges who said the president lacked the constitutional authority to set voting policy. The Constitution says the "Times, Places and Manner" of federal elections are determined by individual states, with Congress able to enact changes. Trump has long railed baselessly about widespread illegal voting by noncitizens and fraud with mail ballots. The new executive order which was first reported by The Daily Caller takes aim at both.
The order instructs the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to "compile and transmit to the chief election official of each State a list of individuals confirmed to be United States citizens who will be above the age of 18 at the time of an upcoming Federal election and who maintain a residence in the subject State."
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2026/03/31/nx-s1-5508948/trump-voter-list-mail-ballots-executive-order
He's apparently panicking.
Article updated.
Original article -
President Trump has escalated his efforts to influence American elections, signing an executive order that the White House says seeks to create a list of confirmed U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state and use the U.S. Postal Service to "verify" mail ballots are for voters.
Speaking just now, Trump said he believes the order is "foolproof." But election experts have already said the order -- which was first reported by The Daily Caller -- would face immediate legal challenges.
A previous executive order on elections, signed about a year ago, has been blocked by federal judges who said the president lacked the constitutional authority to set voting policy. The Constitution is clear that states run their own elections, with Congress able to set policy. Trump has long railed -- baselessly -- about widespread illegal voting by noncitizens and mail voting fraud.
The executive order comes as Trump's Justice Department is seeking sensitive voter data from states, and is engaged in more than two dozen lawsuits for that data. The administration claims it needs the data to enforce states' voter list maintenance.
LetMyPeopleVote
(179,976 posts)Trueblue1968
(19,253 posts)Irish_Dem
(81,374 posts)Who will stop him?
Initech
(108,808 posts)dweller
(28,427 posts)just proves hes a fool
🫤
✌🏻
Captain Zero
(8,908 posts)He will declare all elections null and void.
If he needs a list have his party get it in each individual state.
This is bullshit to be involving the post office in it.
wnylib
(26,054 posts)as a means of casting doubt on election results.
If Dems win the House (and the Senate?), he will claim voter fraud and expect people to believe him because he'll have the idea planned already with this executive order, even if it loses in court.
TomSlick
(13,018 posts)It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
MLWR
(1,029 posts)DonOLD needs to stay in his lane and butt the f**k out.
LetMyPeopleVote
(179,976 posts)This executive order will be struck down
Link to tweet
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-signs-sweeping-order-attacking-mail-in-voting/
This is a massive and unconstitutional voter suppression effort aimed at giving Trump the power to create a list of who is allowed to vote by mail, Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, said Tuesday. We know where this will go the targeting of Democrats for mass disenfranchisement. We will sue and we will win.
Legal challenges to the new order are expected swiftly.
Its obvious the president didnt learn anything from his first failed executive order, David Becker, a leading election law expert, told Democracy Docket. This is unconstitutional on its face. The Constitution clearly gives the president no power over elections.
Becker said he expects courts to move quickly to block the order, as they did with earlier attempts.
I expect that this will be blocked by multiple federal courts in a very short period of time and have no legal effect whatsoever, he said.
He also pointed to contradictions between the administrations recent legal arguments and the apparent scope of the new order, particularly around the creation of a national voter list.
After the Department of Justice has been telling courts theyre not creating a national voter list, this appears to confirm exactly what courts were concerned about, Becker said.
BumRushDaShow
(169,909 posts)And make sure one gets filed in the D.C. district with the hope that Boasberg gets it because he's already royally pissed with this administration!
Volaris
(11,718 posts)trying to convince even Cannon that her court in Florida has jurisdiction over an executive order signed in DC lol
As an aside, that dude should be pretty high on anyone's list for promotion when this is over...he's been a rock star.
BumRushDaShow
(169,909 posts)but the D.C. district is an obvious venue given the national scope of the order.
And Boasberg already is "promoted" - he is the Chief Judge of the D.C. District Court (he had replaced Beryl Howell, who was eligible to move to "Senior" status in that court, and was rotated out, where she was another "rock star" during a lot of litigation in that court).
orangecrush
(30,339 posts)Strike it down
Or the people will.
oasis
(53,701 posts)🖕🏼
popsdenver
(2,317 posts)win their elections in a landslide with 85+% of the votes in their countries.
You can bet your sweet asses that Putin has been advising the Republicans/Trump how it is done, starting in 2015......
Fiendish Thingy
(23,267 posts)So Im not sure any advice from Putin would be applicable, unless Trump start throwing opponents out of 10th story windows
Fiendish Thingy
(23,267 posts)Marc Elias from Democracy Docket says this EO is unconstitutional and unenforceable, and he expects it to be blocked by multiple courts in the next few days.
Bluetus
(2,826 posts)EO's only have effect as instructions to executive branch employees. EOs cannot direct states, Congress, the courts, corporations, or individuals to do anything.
This one is written in the form of a directive to executive branch employees. But it is a direction for them to perform an illegal act. And even if it is not struck down, it must be ignored by states because it has no legally binding authority on them and undoubtedly would violate many state election laws.
electric_blue68
(26,891 posts)DavidDvorkin
(20,592 posts)Amaryllis
(11,306 posts)AverageOldGuy
(3,869 posts)A list that each state chief election official will toss in the shitcan.
reACTIONary
(7,170 posts)BadgerKid
(5,009 posts)Followed by feeding the data into AI tools for orchestration of whatever outcome is needed.
Bristlecone
(11,113 posts)Get our shitty media to talk about it nonstop, and not only act as if it is up for discussion, but suggest it is open for valid debate.
And The Ministry of Truth(Fox, OAN, etc tc) will spread the validity opinion until the cows come home.
ffr
(23,402 posts)hibbing
(10,599 posts)Efforts to prevent people from voting, there, I fixed it.
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(16,213 posts)when we say, 'he thinks he's a king, doing stuff like that. The Constitution says elections belong to the states, precisely for this reason." and they say 'Huh?'
pfitz59
(12,715 posts)One more illegal power grab.
FloridaBlues
(4,671 posts)Things going bad for him so he creates a new problem daily.
orangecrush
(30,339 posts)FakeNoose
(41,697 posts)Why is Chump doing this?
Because HE KNOWS HE'S NOT A KING! He knows the voters don't want him and won't listen to him. He just gave away the whole game when he signed this law. It's going to be shot down in court, and then he has NOTHING!

Bobstandard
(2,307 posts)Just because Ive voted legally for 7 decades, have a passport, was born in a stateside US military hospital, and now look a lot like Benjamin Franklin, doesnt mean Id be eligible to vote this time.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(135,809 posts)He knows he's going to lose.
mackdaddy
(1,979 posts)So who keeps up these records for updates, changes or corrections?
What happens if there are errors?
Basically this all just duplicates the current voter registration system already in place.
LetMyPeopleVote
(179,976 posts)It might be tempting to brush off the presidents executive order as pointless political theater. But its not quite that simple.
It might be tempting to brush off Trumpâs latest elections power-grab as pointless political theater since the executive order will fail in the courts.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-04-01T12:58:44.338Z
But when a president becomes the nationâs most serious threat to the integrity of the electoral process, it matters.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-elections-power-grab-is-likely-to-fail-but-that-doesnt-mean-its-irrelevant
Trumps order requires the Department of Homeland Security to create a list of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. DHS would be expected to rely on information provided by the Social Security Administration, according to the Daily Caller, which first reported the Trump administrations plans.
The U.S. Postal Service would then use that database to send absentee ballots to voters identified as eligible for mail-in voting, according to a White House fact sheet. The ballots would be mailed in envelopes with special codes only to voters enrolled in state-specific absentee ballot programs.
.....If Trumps policy is ridiculous, and its failure in the courts appears inevitable, it might be tempting to brush off his latest gambit as pointless political theater.
But its not quite that simple. For one thing, the latest power-grab is part of a comprehensive effort to undermine public confidence in the nations electoral system and sow doubts about election results that Republicans dont like. The president has played an instrumental role in fueling unnecessary public skepticism, and his executive order is likely to make a bad situation worse.
For another, Trump continues to position himself as the nations single most serious threat to the integrity of the electoral process.
On Tuesday morning, The New York Times published an op-ed by Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who made a convincing case that the most pressing danger to our elections isnt coming from abroad; its coming from the White House.
For months, President Trump has made his intentions clear, the senator wrote. He has called for the federal government to take over elections, impose national rules and override state authority. Now we are beginning to see how he may plan to do this.
Later that same day, the president helped prove Warner right.
LetMyPeopleVote
(179,976 posts)I am still pissed that Texas gave trump all of Texas' voter information. The trump DOJ has sued 20+ states trying to get these records and so far has not won any of these lawsuits. In these lawsuits, the DOJ never really states why they really need these records. trump's voting by mail executive order is clearly the reason for these lawsuits.
Trump acknowledged in his executive order that he "directs DHS to create a nationwide voter registration database.â
— Evie (@evie55.bsky.social) 2026-04-03T20:06:48.463Z
Trump may have accidentally torpedoed his own bid to seize voter rolls: analyst
www.rawstory.com/trump-voting...
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-voting-2676662305/
That's because this order could also undermine one of the main arguments Trump's Justice Department has used in court to defend the lawsuits filed against dozens of states to seize their voting rolls.
"In those lawsuits, the DOJ has claimed it needs millions of voters private sensitive data in order to ensure the states are complying with federal laws that require states to take steps to ensure accurate rolls," said the report. "But outside of court, DOJ officials like Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon have undermined that claim by boasting that the state voter records theyve already obtained have been used to verify citizenship status using the Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program."
After judges began ruling against the lawsuits on these grounds, DOJ officials backpedaled somewhat and said there was no plan to help the Department of Homeland Security build a national database of voters.
Trump, however, may have blown that excuse by outright acknowledging in his executive order that he "directs DHS to create a nationwide voter registration database," noted the report.
"Along with Dhillons statements and Trumps orders, the DOJs courtroom attestations have been impeached repeatedly," wrote Saksa. For example, "last week, CBS reported that DOJ and DHS were working to formalize a data-sharing agreement for the voter rolls. And on the same day Tucker was assuring a federal judge that the DOJ wouldnt share state records with DHS, Eric Neff, acting chief of the DOJs Voting Rights Section, admitted to another judge in Rhode Island that they, in fact, would."
trump's DOJ/DHS really want a nationwide voter database with a ton of confidential information. This database would be used to enforce trump's voter id executive order. It will be fun seeing trump's executive order being cited in these lawsuits.