President Trump just threw a monkey wrench into the left’s vote-by-mail vending machine—with a new executive order that enforces existing law, protects against foreign influence, and de-certifies shady voting tech. This morning, far-left Vox ran an unintentionally encouraging story, headlined, “Trump is threatening states to change their election rules.” The sub-headline explained, “In a new executive order, Trump made demands about citizenship verification and mail ballot counting.”
Trump signed the terrific new executive order on Tuesday. It was titled, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.” It began by noting that America is far behind the rest of the world in commonsense electoral reforms. “India and Brazil,” it pointed out, “are tying voter identification to a biometric database.” Germany and Canada require paper ballots that are counted in public by local officials.
And, “Denmark and Sweden sensibly limit mail-in voting to those unable to vote in person and do not count late-arriving votes regardless of the date of postmark.”
Then, sharpening its legal teeth, the order cited a list of unenforced federal laws governing federal elections. One establishes a single national Election Day, which should prohibit late-counted ballots. Another bars foreign nationals from registering to vote or donating money. Others require states to keep accurate, up-to-date lists of legal voters.
But, the order explained, the federal government has long slept at the enforcement switch. Many (blue) states don’t require proof of citizenship to vote. Others count ballots late. Foreign nationals skirt campaign finance laws using domestic shell companies and cutouts.
Then the order got down to business. Sections 2 and 3 required Homeland Security to ensure that only citizens can vote in federal elections. It ordered the federal government to provide an easy and free way for states to verify citizenship and that voters are still breathing. It updated the national mail-in ballot form to require proof of citizenship via passport, REAL ID, military ID, or any valid photo ID confirming U.S. citizenship.
The order required HomeSec to review each state’s voter database, and ordered DOJ to “take appropriate action” to ensure state compliance with federal rules.
Section 4 asserted Executive branch control over another “independent agency” called the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which dishes out election-related grants to states and certifies election equipment. The order required the EAC to update its guidance with ’radical’ reforms like banning inscrutable systems recording votes in barcodes or QR codes, and requiring “a voter-verifiable paper record to prevent fraud or mistake.”
The EAC was directed to withhold federal funds from states not in compliance.
Voting systems that do not meet the guidelines must be de-certified. Vox described these commonsense provisions as terrible, horrible, and the worst ideas ever. Section 6 required HomeSec and the EAC to “assess the security” of any voting systems that can connect to the Internet, and to review the “security of all electronic systems used in the voter registration and voting process.”
Section 5 required DOJ to aggressively prosecute elections crimes. It ordered DOJ to negotiate “information sharing agreements” with states, and focus enforcement on states refusing to play ball. Section 7 ordered DOJ to prosecute states violating Federal Election Day by late-counting mail-in ballots. Section 8 ordered DOJ to prosecute foreign nationals circumventing campaign finance and lobbying rules.
Vox said that litigation was likely, which seems easy to predict, since they’d sue Trump if he ordered a spicy chicken sandwich, much less ordered changes securing the country’s voting system. Elections are progressives’ electrified third rail of politics, and all these unremarkable upgrades threaten to put Democrats out of business.
Progressives’ palpable fears popped up in the headlines. For example, far-left “watchdog” Democracy Docket ran this horrifying headline:
Only slightly more restrained, the New York Times’ headline described it this way:
Remember what I’ve always told you about headlines that ask questions. The Times reported, “several experts predicted that provisions of the order might well be found unlawful, though they said that others, like directions to Mr. Trump’s attorney general and other cabinet members, fell within legal bounds.”
To the Times’ credit, far down the article, right at the very bottom, it finally quoted a conservative expert. Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, correctly pointed out the executive order simply enforces laws already passed by Congress. “The executive order is acting well within the four corners of those existing laws, so we’re not breaking new ground in terms of legal authority,” Snead explained.
After judges finish ordering President Trump to switch from Diet Coke to Coke Zero, they’ll get around to tackling this new order. But there remains plenty of time before the midterms to sort it all out. We’d prefer, of course, that Congress pass these commonsense reforms as laws that the next Democrat president can’t immediately reverse, but we’ll first need 60 GOP senators.
It is looking very much like Trump’s goal is to make sure that happens in 2026.
I probably don’t need to tell you this. But if you live somewhere with interim elections, it’s critical that we all keep voting. Remember what happened in 2020 to all the good stuff Trump ordered in his first term? Biden swept it all aside. If we can hold the line through the 2026 midterms, we can turn these temporary fixes into permanent reforms. Stay frosty.
Let the leftists beat their Leaf Mold Brains Out their spoiled Brats who cant to take losing and so do their M.S. Media Minions from the New York Slimes