Fresh out of Barnard College with a degree in political science, Riley is a writer and reporter for GZERO. When she isn’t writing about global politics, you can find her making GZERO’s crossword puzzles, conducting research on American politics, or persisting in her lifelong quest to learn French. Riley spends her time outside of work grilling, dancing, and wearing many hats (both literally and figuratively).
Officials from the Democratic Party in 19 states have filed a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s efforts to alter the national voting process via an executive order entitled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” which they argue infringes upon states’ constitutional rights to manage their elections. The Trump administration argues that it is necessary to ensure election security.
How has Trump changed voting? Under the order signed on March 25, people must prove their citizenship to register to vote. This could affect 21.3 million Americans who don’t have proof of citizenship readily available. It also requires these documents to be shown to an election official in person, effectively eliminating online voter registration. The in-person documentation stipulation could make it harder for military and overseas voters to participate in elections.
Administratively, Trump’s order prohibits states from counting ballots received after Election Day, even if they were postmarked before. It also decertifies all voting machines nationwide, requiring that they be recertified under a stricter standard that none of them currently meet. According to the Brennan Center, it will cost states billions of dollars to upgrade their voting machines to comply before the 2026 midterms.
Finally, the order says that money from the federal government will be withheld if the citizenship requirement is not upheld and if the Department of Government Efficiency is not given access to voter information to ensure that noncitizens are not voting.
Who would this affect the most? The order’s narrow list of acceptable identification would require most Americans to use a passport to register. But less than half of Americans have a passport, and younger people, people of color, and those with lower incomes are less likely to have easy access to identification documents. Only 38% of Republicans have passports compared to 41% of all Americans. Additionally, many married women who have changed their last names may not have citizenship documents that reflect their current legal names.
Trump’s executive order has drawn heavy criticism, with many arguing it oversteps presidential authority and tramples on states’ rights to control their own elections. Legal challenges are piling up, and most experts think it’s only a matter of time before the Supreme Court gets involved.
