President Donald Trump has once again turned his attention to reshaping U.S. election rules, declaring online late Saturday that he intends to push major changes through an executive order.
“Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!! Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
This is not Trump’s first attempt to mandate voter ID through executive power. Earlier this year, he issued a broad order on election integrity, but the directive was partly struck down in April by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the president lacked constitutional authority to impose such rules, noting that election regulations fall to Congress and state governments. “Consistent with that allocation of power, Congress is currently debating legislation that would affect many of the changes the President purports to order,” the Clinton-appointed judge wrote. “No statutory delegation of authority to the Executive Branch permits the President to short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order.”
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Despite legal setbacks, Trump continues to lean on popular support for voter ID. A Gallup survey taken just before the 2024 elections showed 84% of U.S. adults in favor of requiring identification at the polls, with 83% backing proof of citizenship for first-time voter registration.
The poll revealed strong bipartisan agreement, though with differing intensity: 67% of Democrats, 84% of independents, and 98% of Republicans supported mandatory voter ID. Similar margins were found on proof-of-citizenship requirements, with support from 66% of Democrats, 84% of independents, and 96% of Republicans.
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