March 26 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to make sweeping changes to the U.S. election system that critics say threaten to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
A fact sheet from the White House described the executive order as a way “to protect the integrity of American elections.”
The order requires the independent Election Assistance Commission to overhaul its voter registration forms to include, for the first time, a citizenship question and to demand documentary, government-issued proof of citizenship, specifically either a U.S. passport or another government-issued ID that shows citizenship.
Among several other actions, it directs federal agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, to provide states with access to their databases to verify the eligibility and citizenship of voters.
States that do not comply will have federal election-related funds threatened. The Justice Department is also instructed to “prioritize prosecuting non-citizen voting and related crimes,” the fact sheet states.
Trump, whose denial that he lost the 2020 election resulted in the Jan. 6, 2021, violent insurrection at the Capitol, has long questioned the security of U.S. elections, though there is no evidence to suggest widespread fraud of significant numbers of votes being cast by non-citizens.
During the signing ceremony on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that they hope to end election fraud and “straighten out our elections.”
“At least we’ll go a long way toward ending it,” he said. “There are other steps that we will be taking in the coming weeks and we think we’ll be able to end up getting fair elections.”
“This country is so sick because of the elections, the fake elections and the bad elections and we’re going to straighten it out one way or the other,” he continued, without providing proof or examples of election fraud.
“And it’s an honor to sign this one — to sign all of them — but to sign this one, it’s a great honor.”
The executive order is widely expected to will be swiftly challenged.
The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement on Bluesky that the executive order “aims to upend U.S. elections and disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
“This is an extreme abuse of power — we’ll see him in court.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said on X that the executive order will make it harder for people to vote if their name isn’t exactly the same on every government-issued ID.
“That hits married folks who change their names, disaster survivors who lost papers and so many others,” she said. “This ain’t about security — it’s suppression.”
