Trump Signs Order Aimed at Preventing Illegal Immigrants From Voting

The order directs officials to enforce laws on voting and voter registration.

People prepare to early-vote Brown Deer, WS., on Oct. 22, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump, in an executive order on March 25, directed federal officials to take steps to make sure illegal immigrants and other noncitizens do not vote in federal elections.

The order also says the U.S. attorney general shall take action against states that count ballots received after Election Day, setting up legal showdowns.

“Election fraud. You’ve heard the term? This will end it, hopefully,” Trump said as he signed the order.

“Perhaps some people think I shouldn’t be complaining because we won in a landslide, but we got to straighten out our election[s],” he added later.

The order says that the federal prohibition on foreigners voting in federal elections shall be enforced in part by the Election Assistance Commission, which will require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in its mail voter registration form, with options for proving citizenship, including a U.S. passport.

The commission was established by Congress in 2002 and helps local officials administer elections.

“The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is carefully reviewing the President’s Executive Order and determining the next steps in enhancing the integrity of voter registration and state and federal elections,” U.S. Election Assistance Commission Commissioner Donald Palmer told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “We also anticipate consulting with state and local election officials.”

The order also directs Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the Social Security Agency to make sure state and local officials have access to systems to verify the citizenship status of people who are registered to vote or who register to vote, as well as social security data. It says that the Department of Homeland Security, with the Department of Government Efficiency, shall review the publicly available voter lists from each state and compare the records to federal immigration databases.

Within 90 days of the order, Noem was told to convey information to Attorney General Pam Bondi on all foreign nationals who have indicated on immigration forms that they have registered or voted in U.S. elections.

Bondi, according to the order, shall prioritize the enforcement of laws that prevent noncitizens from voting or registering to vote. Trump also ordered Bondi to prosecute people who illegally voted, including people who voted multiple times in the same election.

Election Law

Trump also said it was important to comply with federal law, which sets a uniform day for appointing presidential electors and electing people to Congress.

“The Attorney General shall take all necessary action to enforce [the law] against States that violate these provisions by including absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the final tabulation of votes for the appointment of Presidential electors and the election of members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives,” Trump wrote in the order.

The Election Assistance Commission was ordered to stop providing funds to states that don’t comply with the laws, including statutes on election dates.

Many of Trump’s orders have been challenged in court, with judges blocking a number of them.

The election order states that if any provision of the order is held to be invalid by the courts, the remainder of the order “shall not be affected.”

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, was among those praising Trump’s order.

“This is a great first step for election integrity reforms,” he wrote on the social media platform X. 

Others expressed opposition.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat running for Michigan governor, said on X that if Trump “tries to interfere with any citizen’s right to vote, with this or any other action, we’ll see him in court.”