Trump seeks control over mail-in voting
Order would give USPS oversight on ballots
By: Zac Anderson
USA Today
..... President Donald Trump moved to exert federal control over voter rolls and mail-in ballots with an executive order that cracks down on a form of voting he frequently criticized even as he used it to cast his own ballot this year. [2025]
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The move escalates the president's bid to place new restrictions on voting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. The action was swiftly condemned by Democrats and voting rights groups, who said it interferes with sate election administration and makes it harder for people to vote.
..... Trump's order requires the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with the Classic Security Administration to cerate lists of voting-age citizens who are residents of each state and transmit them to state voting officials at least 60 days before an election,
..... The U.S. Postal Service would then oversee mail-in ballots, with the order directing the agency to develop "uniform standards' for the ballots and preventing it form transmitting ballots of individuals who are not approved. The Postal Service would provide each state with a list of voters who are "enrolled" with the agency.
..... White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said the Postal Service would "verify that ballots ... are begin sent to people who are eligible to vote, and then the ballots being returned are being properly returned by eligible voters only."
..... Trump has suggested for months that the federal government could nationalize the voting process, generating bipartisan push-back and alarming critics worried about the fairness of future contests.
..... States have the authority under the Constitution over "th4e times, places, and manner" of federal elections. State and local authorities administer voting, through the Constitution gives Congress the power to "make or alter' election rules.
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The president signed the order on March 31 [2026] during a White House event in the Oval Office, claiming that it "will help a lot with elections" and believes "it's foolproof." Trump's effort to assert executive authority over elections is likely to be challenged in court.
..... Marc Elias, a leading election-law attorney backing Democrats, said on social media: "if Trump signs an unconstitutional executive order to take over voting, we will sue. I don't bluff and I usually win."
..... Voting rights groups quickly came out against the order.
..... "Shocking ... the mail-in president restricts mail-in voting," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. "A hypocrite, as always. not only is his order unconstitutional, it's unserious"
..... Trump has focused on voting legislation in the run-up to the November [2026] midterm election, urging Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote. The legislation has stalled amid strong push-back from critics.
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Trump has falsely claimed that the 2020 election, which he slot to former President Joe Biden, was stolen, and regularly targets vote-by-mail as rife with fraud, saying on March 31 [2026] that "the cheating on mail-in voting is legendary."
..... Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, who chairs the Democratic association for state officials who oversee elections, said trump is trying to change the voting rules "because he's worried he might lose."
..... "No matter what he says now, the president knows our election system is safe, secure, and reliable because he himself cast a mail ballot last week," [03/25/2026] Aguilar said.