President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking broad changes to how elections are run in the US is vast in scope and holds the potential to reorder the voting landscape across the country, even as it faces almost certain litigation.
He wants to require voters to show proof that they are US citizens before they can register for federal elections, count only mail-in or absentee ballots received by Election Day, set new rules for voting equipment and prohibit non-US citizens from being able to donate in certain elections.
A basic question underlying the sweeping actions he signed on Tuesday: Can he do it, given that the Constitution gives wide leeway to the states to develop their own election procedures?
Here are some of the main points of the executive order and questions it raises.
Voters would need to provide citizenship documents to register
Trump’s order calls for the federal voter registration form to be amended so prospective voters must provide documentary proof of citizenship, such as a US passport or a birth certificate.
It also says 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, and directs federal agencies to share data with states to help them identify noncitizens on their rolls.
If states refuse to collaborate with federal law enforcement to prosecute election crimes, they could potentially lose out on federal grants, the order says.
Republicans have been trying to get a documentary proof of citizenship requirement through Congress, a goal this order seeks to accomplish. Voting rights groups have expressed concern about such a requirement, saying it could disenfranchise the millions of Americans who do not have proof of citizenship readily available.
Mail-in ballots would need to be received by Election Day
The order requires votes to be "cast and received" by Election Day and says federal funding should be conditional on state compliance with that deadline. Currently, 18 states and Puerto Rico accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Perhaps no state is more notorious for drawn-out vote counts than California, the nation’s most populous. It allows ballots to be counted if they are received up to seven days following the election as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.
In a statement, California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla stated that Trump’s order "does nothing to improve the safety of our federal elections — what it would do is disenfranchise millions of eligible American voters."
Padilla, who previously served as California’s chief elections officer, noted that Trump "lacks the authority to implement many of the changes laid out in this illegal executive order."
Ballots could not rely on QR codes for counting
The executive order instructs the Election Assistance Commission to amend its guidelines for voting systems to ensure election integrity.
This includes guidance that voting systems should not depend on ballots that use barcodes or QR codes in the vote-counting process.
Trump directed the commission to "take appropriate action to review and, if appropriate, re-certify voting systems" under these new standards within six months of the order.
It is unclear how the executive order would affect Georgia and other jurisdictions using these machines.
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Foreign nationals would be barred from making donations
The order also prohibits foreign nationals from contributing or donating to US elections.
This issue has been rising in recent years, as Republicans aim to reduce the influence of Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. Wyss, who resides in Wyoming, has donated millions to 501(c) non-profit organisations supporting liberal causes.
One such group, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, donated $3.9 million to enshrine abortion protections in the Ohio Constitution and helped thwart a proposed amendment by Ohio Republicans that would have made passing future constitutional amendments more difficult.
During the lead-up to last year’s presidential election, legislative Republicans connected then-President Joe Biden’s presence on Ohio’s fall ballot to a ban on contributions from foreign individuals, companies, governments, or political parties to campaigns for or against proposed state constitutional amendments.
Can Trump do all this through executive order?
The federal government plays a limited role in American elections. Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution grants states the authority to determine the "times, places and manner" of how elections are conducted.
The "Elections Clause" does not specify voting or ballot-counting procedures — these details are left to the states — but it does give Congress the power to "make or alter" election regulations, at least for federal office.
It does not mention any role for the president or the executive branch in regulating elections.
"A president does not set election law and never will," said Virginia Kase Solomon, president and CEO of Common Cause, a grassroots advocacy organisation supporting expanded voter access.
Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, called core parts of the executive order "a blatant overreach that threatens to disenfranchise tens of millions of eligible voters."
Given America’s long history of decentralised, state-run elections, any attempt to change state election laws by executive order is likely to face court challenges.
