Former President Donald Trump has announced his intention to sign an executive order that would require voter identification during elections nationwide.
In a statement on social media late Saturday, Trump also expressed a desire for further reforms regarding the electoral process in the U.S. He emphasized that “Voter ID must be part of every vote. There are no exceptions! I will make executive orders for that!!! Also, aside from very ill individuals and distant military personnel, there will be no mail-in voting. Let’s stick to paper ballots!”
This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to push for voter ID requirements; he previously sought to implement them through executive action earlier this year as part of an election integrity initiative.
However, a federal judge in April blocked some aspects of this order concerning voter identification. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly criticized Trump’s authority to mandate such an order, pointing out that the Constitution allocates control over election regulations to state legislatures.
In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly stated, “Aligned with that distribution of power, Congress is currently exploring legislation that could affect the changes the president is aiming to mandate. The statutory delegation of authority to administrative bodies does not permit the president to bypass Congress through executive orders.”
Despite this, a Gallup poll conducted just before the 2024 elections indicated that the notion of requiring proof of citizenship for voting remains popular among the public. The survey showed that 84% of U.S. adults favor requiring voters to present identification, while 83% support the idea of proving citizenship when registering to vote for the first time.
Interestingly, when this issue was presented to party members, sentiment was overwhelmingly bipartisan—67% of Democrats, 84% of independents, and an incredible 98% of Republicans supported the requirement for voter ID.
