President Trump Issues Executive Order on Election Integrity
By: Michael Bayes, Matthew Petersen, Austin Graham, and Alexander Lee
Order Seeks Significant Changes to Voter Registration and Mail Ballot Counting Rules
On March 25, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “PRESERVING AND PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS.” This far-reaching Executive Order requires federal and state authorities to implement numerous changes to voter registration and election administration processes, and it directs new measures to prevent foreign nationals from voting in or otherwise influencing U.S. elections, secure voting systems and equipment, ensure that all votes in federal elections are counted on or before Election Day, and prioritize the enforcement of federal and state election laws, among other requirements. This new Executive Order, if it survives legal challenges that have already been threatened, would significantly impact voting processes and the enforcement of voting laws.
Several provisions of the Executive Order seek to enhance enforcement of existing laws that prohibit foreign nationals from registering or voting in federal elections. Within 30 days, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is required to update the National Mail Voter Registration Form to require government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship, while state officials must record the type of document that applicants present as proof of U.S. citizenship. Currently, this form asks whether the applicant is a U.S. citizen and requires the applicant to affirm that he or she is a U.S. citizen, but further documentary proof of citizenship is not required. The Executive Order requires applicants to prove their U.S. citizenship with a U.S. passport, an identification that complies with the REAL ID Act, a military identification card that indicates citizenship, or a federal or state-issued photo identification that indicates citizenship. To enforce this new requirement, the EAC is directed to “take all appropriate action to cease providing Federal funds to States” that fail to accept and use the National Mail Voter Registration Form with its new proof of citizenship requirements.
Next, the Executive Order calls for a comprehensive review of state voter registration rolls. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Social Security Administration, and Department of State are required to provide states with access to federal databases, including the Social Security Number Verification Service and the Death Master File, to verify eligibility and U.S. citizenship of individuals registering to vote, or who are already registered to vote. DHS and DOGE then must “review each State’s publicly available voter registration list and available records concerning voter list maintenance” to ensure compliance with federal requirements. Within 90 days, the Secretary of Homeland Security is required to provide the Attorney General and state officials with information on all foreign nationals who have indicated on an immigration form that they registered to vote. Furthermore, the Executive Order requires all federal voter registration departments and agencies to “assess citizenship prior to providing a federal voter registration form to enrollees of public assistance programs.”
The Executive Order also seeks to stop the counting of mail-in and absentee ballots that are received by state election officials after Election Day. This provision relies on federal laws that establish a set date in November for electing Members of Congress and Presidential Electors and seeks to nationalize a recent Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that invalidated a Mississippi law that allowed the counting of mailed ballots that arrived after election day. To ensure compliance, the EAC must condition federal funding on states’ adoption of “a uniform and nondiscriminatory ballot receipt deadline of Election Day for all methods of voting … after which no additional votes may be cast.”
Additionally, the Executive Order seeks to augment the enforcement of election laws and the prosecution of election-related crimes. To this end, the Attorney General must prioritize enforcement of federal laws that prohibit foreign nationals from making contributions or donations in connection with U.S. elections, and that prohibit lobbying by entities receiving federal funds. The Attorney General also is required to enter into information-sharing agreements with state officials in order to provide the Department of Justice with detailed information about potential violations of federal and state election statutes.
The Executive Order also instructs the EAC to amend its Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, which were most recently updated in 2021, to adopt a standard that voting systems provide voters with a verifiable paper record upon casting their ballots to protect against fraud or mistakes. The EAC must also issue guidance prohibiting voting systems from using ballots that contain barcodes or quick-response codes unless necessary to accommodate voters with disabilities.
Finally, the Executive Order requires federal agencies to end all efforts to implement Executive Order 14019 (“Promoting Access to Voting”), which was issued by President Biden and subsequently revoked by President Trump in January 2025. President Biden’s Executive Order directed federal agencies to work to “promote voter registration and voter participation,” including by distributing voter registration and vote-by-mail application forms, assisting applicants in completing these forms, and working with third-party organizations to provide voter registration services on agency premises. The Trump Administration characterized the Biden Executive Order as one “which turned Federal agencies into Democratic voter turnout centers.” Under President Trump’s Executive Order, the heads of all federal agencies must submit reports within 90 days describing their compliance with the order.
President Trump’s March 25 Executive Order is certain to face legal challenges. If it survives these challenges mostly intact, however, it has the potential to bring about significant changes to how elections are currently conducted.
For more information on this topic, please reach out to the authors, Michael Bayes, Matthew Petersen, Austin Graham and Alexander Lee, or your personal Holtzman Vogel contact.
