Trump Says He Plans to Issue Unconstitutional Order Requiring Voter ID and Banning Mail Ballots

President Donald Trump said in a weekend social media post he plans to issue an executive order to impose voter ID requirements. And he reiterated his desire to ban mail voting.

The president lacks the authority to take either step.

“Voter I. D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End! ! ! Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY! ! ! President DJT,” Trump posted on Truth Social late Saturday night. 

Trump has already signed an executive order that attempts to require that people registering to vote show documentary proof of citizenship. The order has already largely been blocked by courts as unconstitutional. 

Still, it has spurred some red states to take steps in furtherance of the order’s goals, leading to new ID requirements.  

Earlier in August, Trump, an absentee voter himself, posted on Truth that he would sign an executive order to ban mail-in voting, later adding that White House lawyers were drafting it. 

In the days following those threats, some Republican election officials gently pushed back, saying that mail-in voting is safe and secure. 

A presidential order to end mail-in voting would be blatantly unconstitutional. The U.S. Constitution gives the states the primary authority to regulate elections, while empowering Congress to “at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.” The Framers never considered authorizing the president to oversee elections. 

The March executive order also directed the Attorney General to “take all necessary action,” to prevent ballots mailed before Election Day, but which arrive after, from being counted. That provision has similarly been enjoined as courts continue to consider the order’s legality.