By Aaron Navarro
Updated on: March 31, 2026 / 7:21 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that directs states to adopt tighter rules for mail-in voting and instructs his administration to compile federally prepared lists of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state.
The order, issued without congressional action, is expected to prompt legal challenges and its immediate impact on primary elections — already underway in many states — is uncertain. Speaking in the Oval Office before signing, the president reiterated his long-held claims that mail-in voting invites widespread fraud, saying, “The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary.” He added that requirements for photo ID and proof of citizenship could be addressed later.
Under the order, the newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, is tasked with creating statewide lists of citizens eligible to vote using Social Security Administration data, a White House official told CBS News. The directive also says the U.S. Postal Service may send absentee ballots only to names on each state’s federally approved mail-in ballot list, and that ballots must be mailed with one envelope per ballot. The White House warned that states that do not comply could face loss of federal funding.
The order does not explain what remedies would exist if eligible voters are mistakenly excluded from the federally prepared lists. The Daily Caller first reported an outline of the executive order.
Trump has pressed Congress to pass the SAVE Act, which would impose proof-of-citizenship requirements for registration; the president and allies argue this would prevent noncitizens from registering to vote, though noncitizen voting is already illegal and documented instances are rare. The Heritage Foundation, aligned with Trump, has said there have been roughly 100 verified cases of noncitizen voting since 2000.
Legal experts say the president’s effort to change mail-in voting rules without congressional approval is likely unconstitutional. The Constitution gives states primary authority over election rules, and while Congress has some regulatory power, the president has little legal authority to unilaterally oversee state-run elections.
Democratic and voting-rights lawyers vowed to sue. Prominent election attorney Marc Elias posted on X that if Trump signs an unconstitutional executive order to take over voting, they would sue. State officials reacted strongly: Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called the move “nothing more than a push to weaponize the sensitive personal information of voters” and vowed to fight it in court.
The action comes as the Justice Department and Homeland Security finalize plans that would allow federal use of sensitive voter registration data for immigration and criminal investigations, according to sources. The Justice Department’s efforts to collect voter roll data have already sparked litigation in multiple states; the DOJ has sued several states and top election officials for not turning over statewide voter registration rolls, alleging failure to produce them violates federal law. In September, suits were filed against officials in California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.
Sarah N. Lynch contributed to this report.