| By AP News Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive action to overhaul elections in the United States, including requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and demanding that all ballots be received by Election Day. Read more. |
| Why this matters: The order says the U.S. has failed “to enforce basic and necessary election protections” and calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes. It threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials don’t comply. The move, which is likely to face challenges because states have broad authority to set their own election rules, is consistent with Trump’s history of criticizing election processes. Voting rights groups have expressed concerns that the requirement could disenfranchise people. An estimated 9% of U.S. citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, do not have proof of citizenship readily available, according to a 2023 report by the Brennan Center for Justice and other groups. |
