Policy Summary: On March 31, 2026 President Donald Trump issued the executive order (EO) titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.” The order had two main components – the establishment of state citizenship lists of every citizen in the state eligible to vote and directing the United States Postal Service with creating and implementing rules regarding the use, delivery and acceptance of mail – ballots used by each individual State.
The executive order was quickly challenged in court. A case was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on April 2, 2026. After a lengthy process that included briefing on a possible temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would have prevented the executive order from going into effect, the federal district court on September 4, 2026 issued an order granting the plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction. The order by the court prohibits the executive order from going into effect. The case was appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals with the Federal Government filing an emergency motion for a stay of the district court’s order pending an appeal. If granted this would have halted the district court’s order and allowed President Trump’s executive order to go into effect while the appeal was ongoing. However, the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied the application for a stay which means the executive order will not be allowed to go into effect.
President Trump and his allies on September 10th made an appeal to the United States Supreme Court but that application is still pending with nothing certain on when the Supreme Court will issue a ruling on the case. LEARN MORE
Policy Analysis: The details of President Trump’s executive order is flawed on a number of levels.
First, Trump has taken a step to implement rules that he has no power to do. The U.S. Constitution specifically grants the power of voting to the individual states and to Congress. It does not include the President of the United States any power over the voting rules. Each State is allowed to craft and implement the rules regarding voting in their state, including the use of mail ballots. The rules regarding mail ballots differ from state to state which is acceptable. Congress has on occasion stepped in to help create uniform rules and the key point here is that only Congress can do it. President Trump, or any future President, cannot unilaterally implement voting rules which likely makes the March 31st executive order likely unconstitutional and invalid.
A review of the details of the executive order reveals more issues with the executive order than just the constitutional defects. The order sought to require a creation of “state citizen lists” of those who are eighteen (18) years of age, confirmed to be United States citizens and who maintain a residence in the state. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies would be required to share the compiled lists with individual states, it is not clear what the states are supposed to do with the lists. There is also a high risk of error when compiling the lists which could lead to citizens being left off the list although they may be eligible, e.g., due to moving or residence out of state such as for college. Furthermore, there are privacy statutes on the books that would prevent the creation of such lists which was not addressed by the Trump Administration.
Additionally, the order would have required states to comply with a mail ballot designed by USPS to be used by all states and for states to notify USPS if and who will be voting by mail in their state at least ninety (90) days before a federal election. This is completely out of bounds of executive and USPS authority as USPS does not have the resources to design a mail ballot. Nor does USPS have the resources to determine who will vote by mail three months before an election occurs. There is no clarity why the Administration wants this.
Finally, the most disturbing part of the executive order is that it creates criminal liability for election officials who issue ballots to ineligible voters even if the ballot is never used. And it also grants USPS discretion as to who mail ballots should be delivered to based on who or who is not on the “state citizen lists.” The order contains no notice procedure to alert a person they are being refused delivery of their mail ballot. Nor does it contemplate the time, money and resources on having USPS compare the mail bags they are delivering with “state citizen lists” that have no accuracy protections or provisions. While these practical problems are real it does no disguise the fact that the executive order will likely cause chaos come election time which may be the preference of this Administration.
Fortunately, barring any action from the Supreme Court, the preliminary injunction is in place for the time period when the 2026 midterm elections will occur which indicates that Trump’s Executive Order will not be in effect on Election Day. LEARN MORE
Take Action
- Brennan Center for Justice – non – profit group’s analysis of President Trump’s March 31st Executive Order.
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – non – profit group’s timeline, documents and analysis of League of Women Voters v. Trump case.