Washington:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order seeking broad changes to elections in the US, including mandating voters to show proof that they are American citizens, counting only mail or absentee ballots received by Election Day and prohibiting non-US citizens from being able to donate in certain elections.
Citing India and some other countries as examples, Trump said the US now fails to enforce “basic and necessary election protections” employed by modern, developed and developing nations.
“India and Brazil are tying voter identification to a biometric database, while the United States largely relies on self-attestation for citizenship,” he said.
“Germany and Canada require paper ballots when tabulating votes, while the United States has a patchwork of methods that often lack basic chain-of-custody protections,” he added.
Trump’s order also stated that while countries like Denmark and Sweden “sensibly” limit mail-in voting to those unable to vote in person and do not count late-arriving votes regardless of the date of postmark, many American elections now feature mass voting by mail, with many officials accepting ballots without postmarks or those received well after Election Day.
President Trump, who returned to power in January after defeating Democrat nominee Kamala Harris, said that “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,” he said.
President Trump, who has repeatedly questioned certain voting methods since he lost the 2020 US Presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, said the polls “must be honest and worthy of the public trust”.
Trump’s Order To Overhaul US Elections
US citizenship proof
Donald Trump’s order called for the federal voter registration form to be amended so that prospective voters must provide documentary proof of citizenship, such as a US passport or a birth certificate.
It also said states should turn over their voter lists and records of voter list maintenance to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Government Efficiency for review. It directed federal agencies to share data with states to help them identify noncitizens on their rolls.
The order said if states refuse to collaborate with federal law enforcement to prosecute election crimes, they could potentially lose out on federal grants.
Mail ballots by Election Day
The executive order required votes to be “cast and received” by Election Day and said federal funding should be conditional on state compliance with that deadline.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 18 US states along with Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Washington, DC, will count ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day, regardless of when they arrive.
Ballots can’t rely on QR codes
The order instructed the Election Assistance Commission to amend its guidelines for voting systems to “protect election integrity”. That would include guidance that voting systems should not rely on ballots that use barcodes or QR codes in the vote-counting process.
Trump instructed the commission to “take appropriate action to review and, if appropriate, re-certify voting systems” under those new standards within six months of the order.
Foreigners barred from making donations
Donald Trump’s order also barred foreign nationals from contributing or donating in US elections.
“Foreign nationals and non-governmental organizations have taken advantage of loopholes in the law’s interpretation, spending millions of dollars through conduit contributions and ballot-initiative-related expenditures. This type of foreign interference in our election process undermines the franchise and the right of American citizens to govern their Republic,” he said.
(With agency inputs)