March 31, 2026Updated April 1, 2026, 11:32 a.m. ET
President Donald Trump moved to exert federal control over voter rolls and mail-in ballots with an executive order that cracks down on a form of voting he frequently criticizes, even as he used it to cast his own ballot this year.
The move escalates the president's bid to place new restrictions on voting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. The action was swiftly condemned by Democrats and voting rights groups, who said it interferes with state election administration and makes it harder for people to vote.
Trump's order requires the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with the Social Security Administration to create lists of voting-age U.S. citizens who are residents of each state and transmit them to state voting officials at least 60 days before an election.
The U.S. Postal Service would then oversee mail-in ballots, with the order directing the agency to develop rules establishing "uniform standards" for the ballots and preventing it from transmitting ballots of people who are not approved. The Postal Service would provide each state with a list of voters who are "enrolled" with the agency.
White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said the Postal Service would "verify that ballots ... are being sent to people who are eligible to vote, and then the ballots being returned are being properly returned by eligible voters only."
Trump has suggested for months that the federal government could nationalize the voting process, generating bipartisan pushback and alarming opponents who worried about the fairness of future contests.
States have the authority under the Constitution over "the times, places, and manner" of federal elections. State and local authorities administer voting, though the Constitution gives Congress the power to "make or alter" election rules.
Trump's effort to assert executive authority over elections is likely to be challenged in court.
NAACP leader: 'Not only is his order unconstitutional, it's unserious'
Marc Elias, a leading election law attorney backing Democrats, said on social media that "If Trump signs an unconstitutional executive order to take over voting, we will sue. I don't bluff and I usually win."
The president signed the order March 31 at a White House event in the Oval Office, saying it "will help a lot with elections" and believes "it's foolproof."
Voting rights groups quickly came out against the order.
“Shocking … the mail-in president restricts mail-in voting," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. "A hypocrite, as always. Not only is his order unconstitutional, it's unserious."
Trump has focused on voting legislation in the run-up to the November midterm elections, urging Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote. The legislation has stalled amid strong pushback from opponents.
Trump has falsely claimed that the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden, was stolen, and he regularly targets vote-by-mail as rife with fraud. He said March 31 that "the cheating on mail-in voting is legendary."
Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, who chairs the Democratic association for state officials who oversee elections, said Trump is trying to change the voting rules "because he's worried he might lose."
"No matter what he says now, the president knows our election system is safe, secure, and reliable because he himself cast a mail ballot last week," Aguilar said, adding Trump is trying to "bully states into making it harder for people to vote."
Florida, a state Trump carried by 13 percentage points in 2024, is among states that widely use mail-in ballots. The president cast his ballot by mail in a special election March 24 in Florida.