President Trump on Tuesday ordered the government to crack down on mail-in voting, imposing stricter standards to obtain an absentee ballot and tightening security measures around their use.
The president ordered Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and the Social Security Administration to compile a list of verified U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state. He also directed the U.S. Postal Service to only send absentee ballots to those on the approved lists.
In addition, ballots will have to be mailed in specific envelopes that will have unique bar codes, which will make it easier for the government to track.
States will also be required to provide their lists of confirmed eligible voters to the federal government no less than 60 days before a federal election.
In addition, the order directs the Justice Department to prioritize prosecuting anyone accused of sending ballots to ineligible voters. Any state that disregards the order could lose federal funding, under Mr. Trump’s executive order.
“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what’s going on,” Mr. Trump said. “So I think this will help a lot on elections.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the order puts the onus on the states to ensure that mail-in ballots are “safe, secure and accurate.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, called the order “an unlawful power grab by a failing president.”
“This action would allow the administration to unilaterally determine who is allowed to vote, subject state election officials to unnecessary investigation meant to intimidate those who oppose their voter suppression agenda and risk the privacy of millions of law-abiding Americans,” Mr. Jeffries said in a statement.
Mr. Trump’s executive order comes as he urges Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would eliminate universal mail ballots and require voters to present valid identification at the polls. Under the SAVE Act, mail-in ballots would be limited to a select few voters, including those who have disabilities, military commitments, or are traveling on Election Day.
The SAVE Act faces limited odds of passing in a deeply divided Senate, as Democrats have bashed it, saying it disenfranchises minority voters.
Mr. Trump has condemned mail-in ballots while at the same time using them himself to cast a vote. Earlier this month, Mr. Trump cast a mail-in ballot in a Florida special election. He said it was necessary to vote by mail because of his position.
“Because of the fact that I am president of the United States. I did a mail-in ballot for elections that took place in Florida because I should be here instead of being in the beautiful sunshine,” Mr. Trump told reporters last week.
“I was away mostly in Washington, D.C., so I used a mail-in ballot,” he said, adding that people who are traveling, disabled or suffering from an illness should be permitted to vote by mail.
Mr. Trump has long complained about mail ballots since his 2020 presidential election loss to President Biden. He insisted that his loss was the result of fraud from mail ballots. More absentee ballots were cast in that election because the COVID-19 pandemic kept some voters at home.
However, Mr. Trump’s own Justice Department said in 2020 that there was no evidence that fraud affected the election outcome. A 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found that cases of mail voting fraud occurred in about 4 out of every 10 million ballots cast.
