President Trump threatens to eliminate mail-in voting before 2026 midterm elections
President Donald Trump has threatened to issue an executive order to end mail-in voting before the 2026 midterm elections.
A coalition of Democratic-led states has filed another court challenge to President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting.
The April 3 lawsuit by more than 20 Democratic state attorneys general and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro alleges that President Trump has “ignored” the constitutional principle that gives states primary responsibility for conducting federal elections.
The Constitution gives states the power to set the “times, places, and manner” of electing members of Congress, while also giving Congress the power to pass laws that change many of these regulations.
The states focused on this constitutional provision, arguing that President Trump was acting without authority.
“Neither the Constitution nor any law of Congress gives the president the authority to order major changes to a state’s election systems or procedures,” they said in their lawsuit.
President Trump’s March 31 executive order directs the U.S. Postal Service to develop “uniform standards” to prevent mail-in ballots from being sent by people who are not authorized to vote. The service would provide each state with a list of “registered” voters.
“The only people who would be offended by legitimate efforts to secure America’s elections and ensure that only eligible Americans vote are Democratic politicians and operatives,” White House press secretary Abigail Jackson told USA TODAY in a statement.
“President Trump campaigned to secure the election, and the American people sent him back to the White House to get that job done,” she added.
States claim the order coerces them with threats of investigation and prosecution to disenfranchise voters who are missing from the federal government’s “shadow voter eligibility list.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the state attorneys general leading the case, said in a statement that “free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, and no president has the power to rewrite the rules himself.”
A range of voting rights groups and top Democratic leaders in Congress are also suing Trump in two separate lawsuits aimed at blocking the president’s new restrictions on mail-in voting, arguing they amount to an unlawful power grab.
Contributor: Zach Anderson – USA TODAY
