Trump overhauls voting via executive order. Here's what the order does
In the order, Trump outlined his plan to ensure that votes arrive on Election Day.
'Free, fair and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic,' reads the text of the executive order. 'The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election.'
It is likely that the executive order will be challenged in court, as have many of Trump's other orders. Election law is typically dictated by states, even for federal offices.
Trump's proposed changes, including requiring votes to be submitted by Election Day, would affect states that allow votes to arrive to polling places in the days after an election.
The Utah Legislature passed a bill this year that would reform the state's vote-by-mail system, including a requirement for ballots to be returned by 8 p.m. on election night.
Trump's executive order mandates sweeping change for electoral systems across the nation.
It requires that:
Voters present proof of citizenship when they vote, including a passport or a compliant driver's license.
Voters present proof of eligibility to vote in elections in the state in which the voter is attempting to vote.
States do not count absentee or mail-in ballots that arrive at their offices after Election Day.
The commissioner of Social Security supply citizen information to electoral databases to ensure that votes are only cast by living, eligible citizens.
The attorney general take 'appropriate action' to censure states that do not comply with election integrity laws.
The order also tightens protocols around the interference of foreign nations in elections, including by preventing foreign entities from making donations to candidates.
'Many of the issues raised in the (executive order) are already addressed in Utah statute and current practice,' said Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who oversees Utah's elections. 'Other aspects of the executive order ... are things that we have proactively asked the administration for.'
The bill recently passed by the Legislature, HB300, requires that Utah voters:
Opt-in to vote by mail, rather than automatically be able to do so.
Verify their ballot with the last four digits of their driver's license, state ID or Social Security number, rather than their signature.
Henderson also told the Deseret News that she 'is hopeful that President Trump will respect the constitutional prerogative of the states to manage our own elections, free from unnecessary federal intrusion.'
'We all desire fair and accurate elections, with only eligible citizens casting votes,' she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Abrego Garcia's lawyers want smuggling charges dismissed on grounds of vindictive prosecution
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge on Tuesday to dismiss a human smuggling case against him, saying the government was prosecuting the Maryland construction worker to punish him for challenging his removal to El Salvador. Their motion filed in court said attempts to dismiss indictments on the grounds of 'selective or vindictive prosecution' are infrequent and rarely succeed, 'but if there has ever been a case for dismissal on those grounds, this is that case.' The attorneys said senior cabinet members, Justice Department leaders and President Donald Trump mounted unprecedented public attacks on Abrego Garcia and that 'vindictiveness is clear from the record.' Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire in Tennessee, where Abrego Garcia is in jail, said in an email prosecutors would have no other comment beyond what they file in response to the motion. No prosecutor motion was filed as of late Tuesday. Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over Trump's immigration policies following his wrongful expulsion to El Salvador in March. Trump's administration violated a U.S. immigration judge's order in 2019 that shields Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there. The administration claimed Abrego Garcia was in the MS-13 gang, although he wasn't charged and has repeatedly denied the allegation. Facing mounting pressure and a U.S. Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. in June to face the smuggling charges, which his attorneys have called 'preposterous.' Tuesday's motion alleged the government was trying to paint Abrego Garcia as a criminal to punish him for challenging his removal to El Salvador and to avoid 'the embarrassment of accepting responsibility for its unlawful conduct." The motion said the government also aimed to change public opinion about Abrego Garcia's deportation. Abrego Garcia's attorneys asked the court at least to order a hearing on the government's motives. The smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Police in Tennessee suspected human smuggling, but he was allowed to drive on. A federal judge in Maryland last month prohibited the Trump administration from taking Abrego Garcia into immediate immigration custody if he's released from jail. The judge ordered the government to provide three business days notice if Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to initiate deportation proceedings against him.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Committee backs bills to require paper ballots and prohibit ballot drop boxes
CHEYENNE — Legislators voted to sponsor bills addressing the state's use of paper ballots and ballot drop boxes during Friday's Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee meeting. The two bills, which would require paper ballots be the default voting method in each county and would prohibit the use of ballot drop boxes, are in alignment with legislation that Secretary of State Chuck Gray backed earlier this year. During the meeting, Gray repeatedly referred to President Trump's executive order 'Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,' saying these bills are essential to achieving the president's objectives. The bills also align with Gray's 'election integrity' agenda. Wyoming Republican Party Chairman Bryan Miller echoed Gray's concerns. 'National politics have driven a big distrust in the election system, and that distrust is very prevalent in Wyoming at the moment,' Miller said. 'Bottom line, the perception is the reality.' Though Gray and Miller insisted that these bills are essential to election security, opponents of the bills noted that they responded to perception, rather than addressing any documented errors. Wyoming League of Women Voters President Linda Barton told the committee that they should heavily consider the input of the county clerks, and avoid supporting legislation that takes away local control for the sake of national agendas. 'The bills before you today do not meet that standard,' Barton told the committee. 'Instead, they erect barriers; impose costly, unfunded mandates; reduce access, and risk undermining public trust in our elections.' Barton noted that voter access should be considered alongside election integrity. 'We must carefully consider the real-life effects on both election administration and voter access,' Barton said. 'For many Wyoming voters — shift workers, farmers, ranchers, people with health challenges, and those facing immediate harsh weather — barriers to voting are more than theoretical.' The committee was originally set to hear 11 bills Friday morning, but later voted to only work four for the sake of time. The committee also worked on two draft bills, one prohibiting 'ballot harvesting' and one addressing voter registration procedures, which will be revisited during their November meeting. Ballot harvesting refers to the practice of individuals collecting and submitting completed absentee or mail-in ballots on behalf of other voters, rather than the voters submitting their own ballots directly. Paper ballots The committee voted to sponsor the draft bill on pen and paper ballots, which would require counties to use pen and paper as the default method to mark ballots for Wyoming elections, with exceptions for people with disabilities. Laramie County is the only county in the state that doesn't currently provide pen and paper ballots as a default measure. Instead, the county uses an 'express voting' system as its default. Voters insert a card into a machine, select their candidates on a touchscreen and receive a printed ballot with a list of their votes. Gray specifically took issue with the barcodes produced during the process, which encodes the voters' selections. 'Relying on barcodes decreases the trust in our elections, because electors cannot verify that the barcodes on their ballots correspond with the candidates they voted for,' Gray said. 'This bill will increase confidence in our elections, because voters will trust that their ballot was counted accurately when they fill them out with pen and paper.' These electronic voting systems are largely used to increase accessibility for voters who may not be able to fill out a paper ballot without assistance. Gray noted that, further down the line, he would support accessing options that are still accessible, but do not include barcodes. There have been no documented cases of inconsistencies between barcodes and printed votes in Wyoming, Platte County Clerk Malcolm Ervin told the committee. There has been, however, one documented case in 2023, in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where the voter's selection shown on the machine-generated code differed from the selections that appeared on the human-readable printout, Ervin said. Further investigation showed that the code accurately reflected the voter's choices, but a programming error had caused the text version to be incorrect. The votes were tabulated correctly based on the code. 'That same coding error is not exclusive to the express vote,' Ervin said. 'It could happen on the paper ballot, as well.' These errors have strengthened the argument for testing counting systems prior to an election, as opposed to restricting methods of voting, Ervin said. The other issue with the bill is how difficult it would be for Laramie County to comply with the bill by the 2026 election cycle. Laramie County is the largest county in the state, home to 16% of the voting population. In an email correspondence presented to the committee by Mary Lankford, a lobbyist for the County Clerks Association of Wyoming, Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee wrote that the bill would 'completely upend Laramie County's elections, a recipe for disaster for Wyoming's largest county that could impact elections across the state.' According to Lee, Laramie County would have to completely change its operational plans and would have to acquire additional voting equipment. That equipment would also have to be installed and tested by the vendor prior to undergoing additional required logic and accuracy tests. 'Laramie County does not have the staff, money or time to make such a drastic change in voting operations,' Lee wrote. The committee voted amend the bill's effective date to 'effective immediately' and then voted to sponsor the draft bill, with Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, and co-chair Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, opposed. Ballot boxes The committee also voted to sponsor a bill that would prohibit the use of drop boxes for the delivery of ballots. Instead, absentee ballots would have to be mailed in or delivered by hand. 'I remain convinced that the use of unstaffed and unattended ballot drop boxes is not secure or the best means for our state,' Gray told the committee, referencing a few instances in which ballot boxes were tampered with, including recent arson cases in Oregon. One of the major concerns with prohibiting the use of ballot boxes is limiting voter access. Many blue-collar workers in Wyoming have jobs that require long hours, Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, told the committee. 'My concern all along with this bill was the fact that it was eliminating the ability of a working man or woman to come into town at 7 o'clock at night and drop their ballot off,' Landen said. Gray responded to Landen's concern, saying that the working man was a priority of himself and Trump. 'Working people support these measures,' Gray said. 'There's no question about that.' He offered no supporting evidence to back up that assertion, however. Yin also pointed out that mailing ballots would effectively send them out of the state, as Wyoming no longer has a local U.S. Postal Service distribution center. The nearest distribution center is in Denver, Colorado, or Salt Lake City, Utah. 'It goes out of the state and then it comes back,' Yin said. 'And so how do I know that my ballot is more secured in the postal collection box than a box that's in the county courthouse in my county and will never leave the county?' Gray noted that election-related mail should not leave the state. The committee rejected an amendment to allow voters to deliver their ballots to a drop box in a county or other governmental entity's building; the box would be accessible from the building's exterior. The amendment would have required the drop box to remain under constant video surveillance, and only a county clerk or their designee would have access to the secured receptacle. The committee amended the bill's effective date to 'effective immediately' and then voted to sponsor the draft bill, with Landen, Yin and Case opposed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Centrelink update for millions of Aussies
Social security payments will rise across the board next month, with Australia's pensioners set to benefit the most. Welfare payments are indexed twice a year – once in March and once in September. The point is to make sure they keep pace - or at least try to - with changes in cost of living and wages. From September 20, people on the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment will get up to $29.70 more in their fortnightly payments. While it might not go too far at the supermarket, it does mean those pensions have risen by almost $5000 since Labor won government in 2022. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Wednesday the Albanese government 'wants to help take the pressure off when it comes to cost of living'. 'Social security recipients are also benefiting from tax cuts, cheaper medicines, energy bill relief, cuts to student debt and a whole range of other cost-of-living measures we've delivered since coming into government,' she said in a statement. 'The social security system must be grounded in fairness, which is why we adjust supports as the economy changes. 'We'll continue to make sure the system is there to support those who need it most, ensuring that everyone can make ends meet and no one gets left behind.' Indexation for pensions are based on a few different measures, including the Consumer Price Index and male total average weekly earnings. People receiving rent assistance, JobSeeker, ABSTUDY and parenting Payments are also getting a modest boost. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
