Trump signs executive order requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive order attempting a major overhaul of American elections, requiring people to prove their citizenship when they register to vote.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive order attempting a major overhaul of American elections, requiring people to prove their citizenship when they register to vote.
The order — which also includes an array of other changes, from mail-in ballot deadlines to election equipment — could risk disenfranchising tens of millions of Americans. Election law experts questioned whether Trump had the authority to make the changes, saying the order is all but certain to be met with legal challenges.
Federal law currently requires that voters swear under penalty of perjury that they are citizens and eligible to vote when they register, and courts have prevented states from adding documentary proof-of-citizenship requirements for voters in federal races because of such laws.
Trump's order directs the Election Assistance Commission, an independent, bipartisan commission that supports election officials, to redo its voter registration form and require voters to show U.S. passports or other government ID that shows citizenship to register to vote.
Roughly half of Americans had U.S. passports last year, according to the State Department, and a birth certificate is not listed as an acceptable proof of citizenship under the order. Some of the other eligible ID records Trump's executive order suggests — like REAL IDs and military identification cards — do not always show citizenship, either.
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