Trump Signs EO Requiring Proof Of Citizenship, Paper Ballots

Over four years after the 2020 election was “rigged,” President Donald Trump issued an executive order to bolster election integrity.

“Despite pioneering self-government, the United States now fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections employed by modern, developed nations, as well as those still developing,” the order states. “Free, fair, and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic. The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election.”

The Tuesday order tackles some of the most vulnerable aspects of the current election system.

Ensuring Only Citizens Can Vote

It’s already technically already illegal for noncitizens to register to vote (and vote) in federal elections — but the only thing standing between them and safe and secure elections is a small square box on a federal registration form that requires applicants to attest to their citizenship status under penalty of perjury. Noncitizens have managed to vote in federal elections as a result of an insecure system.

[READ NEXT: Congress Must Do More To Prevent Noncitizens From Voting]

Trump’s executive order states that within 30 days of the proclamation, the “Election Assistance Commission shall take appropriate action to require … documentary proof of United States citizenship …” The order also stipulates that state and local officials must record which type of documentation is used as well as the date such documentation was issued. Some examples of documentary proof of citizenship include a United States passport, a REAL ID that indicates citizenship, a military identification card, and a valid federal or state government-issued identification.

Information Sharing Between Federal And State Agencies

The order also states that the Commissioner of Social Security shall make available the Social Security Number Verification Service, the Death Master File and “any other Federal databases containing relevant information” to help identify voter eligibility.

The order also conditions federal election-related funds on states complying with federal laws on election integrity.

Bidenbucks Gets The Axe

Then-President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14019, which mandated federal agencies register and mobilize voters. The order was created “with the express intent of increasing election participation among minority groups that tend to vote disproportionately Democrat,” as Ben Weingarten explained in these pages. These so-called “Bidenbucks” were used to disproportionately advantage Democrats and Democratic goals.

While Trump rescinded Biden’s executive order upon taking office, his Tuesday executive orders directs “the heads of all agencies, and the Election Assistance Commission” to “cease all agency actions implementing” Bidenbucks and “submit … a report describing compliance with this order” within 90 days.

Late Counting

Election Day used to mean something — elections were supposed to be held on a uniform day nationwide. But during the 2020 election (that was rife with irregularities), several states changed their rules to, as previously reported in these pages, “permit late ballots (that in some cases lacked a postmark) to be counted as valid so long as they arrived within an allotted time frame.” Many of those rules remained in effect during the 2024 election. Election Day has now turned into Election Months, and ballots that arrive after Election Day can also be counted in certain states. It’s patchwork election law.

Trump’s executive order directs the attorney general to “take all necessary action to enforce [federal law] against States that violate these provisions by including absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the final tabulation of votes for the appointment of Presidential electors and the election of members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.”

Paper Ballots

The Election Assistance Commission is directed by Trump’s executive order to issue “appropriate guidance establishing standards for voting systems to protect election integrity.”

The guidance shall “provide that voting systems should not use a ballot in which a vote is contained within a barcode or quick-response code in the vote counting process except where necessary to accommodate individuals with disabilities and should provide a voter-verifiable paper record to prevent fraud or mistake.”

Several states do not use hand-marked paper ballots. In Georgia, for example, voters mark their ballot on a touchscreen before a print-out summary and QR code of their vote is created. That print-out summary is then scanned in to be tabulated. The problem with the current system, as Morgan County Democratic Party Chairwoman Jeanne Dufort testified during Curling v. Raffensperger, is that the machine “interprets your vote and sends it to a printer.” That means a voter’s intention can only be inferred by whatever summary and QR code is printed, as I previously reported. Printouts aren’t always accurate, however. As I previously reported, Northampton County, Pennsylvania voters who voted in a November 2023 election had their “yes” votes flipped to “no” on the printout version of their vote summary.

Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2