It was only a matter of time before The Musk/Trump regime attacked the very election system that allowed them into power. The goal here is to disenfranchise as many people as possible, the Constitution be damned.
Before I get into the executive order itself, I understand this is blatantly unconstitutional. It violates federalism (states run elections) and separation of powers (Congress can still pass laws about elections and voting). Those pesky considerations matter very little to the architects of Project 2025 and possibly even enough members of the Extreme Court.
Even if this order is blocked in the courts, it will serve as an inspiration for a new round of voter suppression legislation in the states. They *DO* have the power to alter their election laws (unless the courts chime in) and the red states have been slowly ratcheting up the restrictions on voting.
This is the SAVE Act on steroids. Let’s examine what this order could do if found legal (and it probably won’t be) below the fold.
Section 1 is a very thin justification for this trashy order. It employs whataboutism from election systems in other nations to attack our own. It also uses many discredited phantom problems the reactionaries claim are wrong with elections. This reads like a voter suppressors wet dream.
Federal law establishes a uniform Election Day across the Nation for Federal elections, 2 U.S.C. 7 and 3 U.S.C. 1. It is the policy of my Administration to enforce those statutes and require that votes be cast and received by the election date established in law. As the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held in Republican National Committee v. Wetzel (2024), those statutes set “the day by which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials.” Yet numerous States fail to comply with those laws by counting ballots received after Election Day. This is like allowing persons who arrive 3 days after Election Day, perhaps after a winner has been declared, to vote in person at a former voting precinct, which would be absurd.
They are using a decision from the archconservative 5th Circuit to justify attacking mail-in ballots. The Extreme Court hasn’t even weighed in on the issue yet (not that I am hopeful there)! This is nonsense because election officials know not to declare a winner in a close race until ALL BALLOTS ARE RECEIVED. This is a solution looking for a problem that doesn’t exist.
Several Federal laws, including 18 U.S.C. 1015 and 611, prohibit foreign nationals from registering to vote or voting in Federal elections. Yet States fail adequately to vet voters’ citizenship, and, in recent years, the Department of Justice has failed to prioritize and devote sufficient resources for enforcement of these provisions. Even worse, the prior administration actively prevented States from removing aliens from their voter lists.
This isn’t a thing. Foreign nationals DON’T VOTE IN OUR ELECTIONS. There are safeguards already in place to assure that. There are few if any people who are not already citizens on the voter rolls! This is an attack on naturalized citizens who are from countries the regime doesn’t like.
Additionally, Federal laws, such as the National Voter Registration Act (Public Law 103-31) and the Help America Vote Act (Public Law 107-252), require States to maintain an accurate and current Statewide list of every legally registered voter in the State. And the Department of Homeland Security is required to share database information with States upon request so they can fulfill this duty. See 8 U.S.C. 1373(c). Maintaining accurate voter registration lists is a fundamental requirement in protecting voters from having their ballots voided or diluted by fraudulent votes.
“Fraudulent votes” are extremely rare, and it has been TRUMP supporters caught doing it in recent elections. Voter rolls may need cleaning up but not at the cost of blatant voter suppression as desired by the Musk/Trump regime.
Federal law, 52 U.S.C. 30121, prohibits foreign nationals from participating in Federal, State, or local elections by making any contributions or expenditures. But 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.
Russia has entered the chat. This would be a joke if they weren’t so serious…
Section 2 is the really scary section. If you thought voter ID was restrictive before, wait until you see what the Musk/Trump regime thinks is acceptable to register to vote.
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These are the *only* docs it would allow. For most Americans, the only document they would be able to show to register would be a passport. It would not even allow birth certificates. Only half of American citizens have a passport.
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— wendyweiser.bsky.social (@wendyweiser.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Think you are safe because you are already registered to vote? Think again!
(b) To identify unqualified voters registered in the States:
(i) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with applicable law, ensure that State and local officials have, without the requirement of the payment of a fee, access to appropriate systems for verifying the citizenship or immigration status of individuals registering to vote or who are already registered;
(ii) the Secretary of State shall take all lawful and appropriate action to make available information from relevant databases to State and local election officials engaged in verifying the citizenship of individuals registering to vote or who are already registered; and
(iii) the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the DOGE Administrator, shall review each State’s publicly available voter registration list and available records concerning voter list maintenance activities as required by 52 U.S.C. 20507, alongside Federal immigration databases and State records requested, including through subpoena where necessary and authorized by law, for consistency with Federal requirements.
I bolded the truly scary part. Not content with wrecking the federal databases, “DOGE” is now going after the voter rolls. Imagine all of the “duplicate names”, “dead voters”, etc. they will “find”. This will be a shitshow of epic proportions and at the very least will lead the calls from MAGA to annul any election they lose.
Section 4 is another scary section where the Musk/Trump regime will use what levers they have to ensure compliance.
(a) The Election Assistance Commission shall, pursuant to 52 U.S.C. 21003(b)(3)and 21142(c) and consistent with applicable law, take all appropriate action to cease providing Federal funds to States that do not comply with the Federal laws set forth in 52 U.S.C. 21145, including the requirement in 52 U.S.C. 20505(a)(1) that States accept and use the national mail voter registration form issued pursuant to 52 U.S.C. 20508(a)(1), including any requirement for documentary proof of United States citizenship adopted pursuant to section 2(a)(ii) of this order.
Basically, just like with other executive orders, they are going to attempt to punish recalcitrant states by withholding funds for elections if they do not adopt the stringent documentation requirements set forth above.
(b)(i) The Election Assistance Commission shall initiate appropriate action to amend the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 and issue other appropriate guidance establishing standards for voting systems to protect election integrity. The amended guidelines and other guidance shall provide that voting systems should not use a ballot in which a vote is contained within a barcode or quick-response code in the vote counting process except where necessary to accommodate individuals with disabilities and should provide a voter-verifiable paper record to prevent fraud or mistake.
This is a dense section, but my reading of it says that the regime will require paper ballots without a barcode. This would kill mail-in voting and optical scanners to count votes quickly. But we all expect a winner on election night! Please correct me if I am wrong here as I am not an elections expert!
Basically, if this is found constitutional (and with this Extreme Court who knows?), get your passports ready as it would be the only way to ensure that you have a chance of voting. Driver’s licenses and birth certificates would no longer be sufficient. Even if this is struck down, expect the red states and swing states to adopt these banana pants measures.
The only silver lining is that this could disenfranchise more of his own voters than ours.
We’re all assuming there are meaningful elections going forward. This is the first step in getting rid of those pesky elections and establishing the Turd Reich Musk/Trump desire.
