Trump Signs Executive Order Limiting Mail-in Ballots; California Leaders Say They'll Fight

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday purporting to spot caller national controls connected voting by message successful states specified arsenic California, repeating his long-held but unsubstantiated declare that mail-in ballots are a root of wide fraud successful U.S. elections.

California leaders instantly responded pinch promises to conflict nan bid successful court. They said message ballots are a safe and unafraid method for voting relied connected by millions of Californians, that Trump’s bid infringes connected nan state’s law correct to administer elections arsenic it sees fit, and that it amounts to an “illegal powerfulness grab” up of midterm elections successful which his statement is poised to suffer important losses.

The bid directs nan United States Postal Service to return power of message balloting by designing caller envelopes pinch typical barroom codes that will let nan national authorities to guarantee that specified ballots spell retired only to eligible voters, and that only eligible voters return specified ballots.

It requires states to taxable to nan USPS process if they scheme to usage nan national message strategy for sending aliases receiving ballots, and to taxable to nan USPS lists of eligible voters successful beforehand of specified ballots passing done nan message system.

It besides requires nan Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and nan Social Security Administration to “compile and transmit to nan main predetermination charismatic of each State a database of individuals confirmed to beryllium United States citizens who will beryllium supra nan property of 18 astatine nan clip of an upcoming Federal predetermination and who support a residence successful nan taxable State.”

Those lists will beryllium drawn from national citizenship and naturalization records, Social Security records and “other applicable Federal databases,” and nan USPS will beryllium barred from transmitting ballots that do not lucifer those lists, nan bid says.

“Secure ballot letter cover identifiers supply a reliable, auditable system to enforce Federal rule without unduly burdening aliases infringing connected nan authorities of eligible voters,” nan bid reads. “Unique ballot letter cover identifiers, specified arsenic barroom codes, alteration confirmation that only citizens person and formed ballots, reducing nan consequence of fraud and protecting nan integrity of Federal elections.

Trump — who precocious voted by message himself successful Florida — framed nan bid arsenic a solution to “massive cheating” successful U.S. elections currently, which he did not backmost up pinch evidence.

“The cheating connected mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what’s going on,” Trump said.

“He’s going to make judge that mail-in ballots are safe unafraid and accurate,” said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who appeared alongside Trump and whose agency nan bid requires to beryllium progressive successful nan coordination of nan caller voting measures.

California officials blasted nan president for attacking and undermining predetermination integrity, alternatively than shoring it up, and said they would conflict nan bid from taking effect.

“President Trump’s Executive Order marks a vulnerable and unprecedented escalation successful his ongoing attacks connected our elections. The powerfulness to modulate elections belongs to nan States and to Congress — he has nary domiciled to play. We blocked his erstwhile Executive Order connected elections successful court, and we are prepared to extremity him again,” said California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.

“The reality is that President Trump and Congressional Republicans spot nan penning connected nan wall — that they are apt to suffer successful nan upcoming midterms — and they are pushing to make it harder for group to vote,” Bonta added. “We won’t guidelines idly by.”

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), successful a connection to The Times, said Trump’s actions were “a clear and coming threat to our democracy,” that he will “use each instrumentality I tin to extremity him,” and that he expects “immediate ineligible challenges successful bid to protect our free and adjacent elections.”

“Instead of focusing connected lowering nan costs of energy, groceries, and wellness care, Donald Trump is desperately attempting to return complete and rig our elections and debar accountability successful November. This executive bid is simply a blatant, unconstitutional maltreatment of power,” said Padilla, nan ranking Democrat connected nan Senate Committee connected Rules and Administration.

“The President and nan Department of Homeland Security person nary authority to commandeer national elections aliases nonstop nan independent Postal Service to undermine message and absentee voting that astir 50 cardinal Americans relied connected successful 2024,” he said. “A decade of lies astir predetermination fraud does not alteration nan Constitution.”

“In nan mediate of an unauthorized warfare overseas and an escalating authoritarian crackdown by ICE present astatine home, Trump is attempting different forbidden powerfulness grab,” Padilla said.

A immense mostly of Californians ballot by mail. In nan state’s 2025 typical predetermination connected Proposition 50, nan state’s mid-decade redistricting measure, astir 89% of votes were formed by mail, according to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s agency — aliases astir 10.3 cardinal retired of astir 11.6 cardinal votes cast.

Trump has agelong criticized mail-in ballots — without grounds — arsenic a root of fraud and a facet successful his losing nan 2020 predetermination to President Biden, which he still contends was illegitimate.

Election experts, voting authorities advocates, local elections officials and different California leaders person each dismissed those claims arsenic unfounded and inaccurate. They person besides been preparing for Trump to enactment to curtail specified voting.

Padilla antecedently warned colleagues that he would unit a vote connected immoderate effort by Trump to state a nationalist emergency successful bid to prehend power of this year’s midterm elections from nan states, forcing them to either co-sign connected nan powerfulness drawback aliases defy it.

Critics of message ballots person besides been actively moving to extremity aliases curtail nan practice. Just past week, nan U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments successful a lawsuit successful which nan Republican Party challenged a Mississippi rule that allows ballots to beryllium accepted and counted if they get up to 5 days aft predetermination day.

During those arguments, nan court’s six conservatives sounded ready to norm that national rule requires ballots to beryllium received by predetermination time successful bid to beryllium counted arsenic legal.

Weber, California’s apical elections official, has warned that attacks connected mail-in voting risked undermining a strategy nan authorities has spent years building astir cosmopolitan message voting.

Trump’s executive bid is conscionable nan latest beforehand successful a years-long run he has led attacking nan integrity of U.S. elections — which has contributed to a steep diminution successful elector spot successful U.S. elections.

On Tuesday, Trump said his bid was drafted by “great ineligible minds,” and will past immoderate ineligible challenges unless “rogue” judges norm against it inappropriately.

“We want to person honorable voting successful our country,” he said.

Rick Hasen, an predetermination rule master and head of nan Safeguarding Democracy Project astatine UCLA Law, based on different successful a station Tuesday, noting that an earlier executive bid purporting to spot caller national controls connected elections was blocked successful court, and “this 1 is apt to fare nary better.”

“To put this successful plain terms: nan bid would usage nan USPS, which is not nether nan nonstop power of nan President, to interfere pinch a state’s lawful transmission of ballots. If nan authorities does not comply pinch these rules, national rule would purport to interfere pinch a state’s behaviour of its ain elections,” Hasen wrote. “The President does not person nan authority to do this.”