US President Donald Trump has pledged to issue an executive order that would overhaul the country’s voting system by mandating voter identification, restricting mail-in ballots, and requiring paper ballots only.
Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social on Saturday, signalling that the order would leave the vote-by-mail system dismantled, with only limited exceptions permitted.
“Voter ID must be part of every single vote. No exceptions! I will be doing an executive order to that end!!!” Trump wrote. “Also, no mail-in voting, except for those that are very ill, and the far away military. Use paper ballots only!!!”
Earlier this month, Trump said the order was already being drafted “by the best lawyers in the country.”
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He has long argued that the US voting system is vulnerable to fraud, repeatedly blaming his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden on irregularities. He has claimed mass voting by non-citizens, widespread misuse of mail-in ballots, and has criticised the use of voting machines, instead pushing for paper ballots and manual counting.
Voting rights groups swiftly criticised the proposal, saying mandatory identification could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
A 2023 report by the Brennan Center for Justice and other organisations estimated that 21.3 million people — roughly 9% of voting-age US citizens — do not have proof of citizenship readily available.
The plan has also raised constitutional questions. Federal elections in the US are administered at the state level, and Trump’s critics argue that the president lacks the authority to impose such sweeping changes. They accuse him of overstepping his powers in a bid to reshape the electoral process.
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