Trump vows executive order to mandate voter ID and restrict mail-in ballots ahead of 2026 midterms
President Donald Trump says he will issue an executive order requiring voter identification from every US voter.
“Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social.
“Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military,” he added.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Mr Trump has long questioned the US electoral system and continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud.
The president and his Republican allies have also made baseless claims about widespread voting by non-citizens, which is illegal and rarely occurs.
For years, he has also called for the end of electronic voting machines, pushing instead for the use of paper ballots and hand counts - a process that election officials say is time-consuming, costly and far less accurate than machine counting.
Earlier in August, Mr Trump pledged to issue an executive order to end the use of mail-in ballots and voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. However, federal elections are administered at the state level and it is unclear whether the president has the constitutional power to enact such a measure.
The November 2026, elections will be the first nationwide referendum on Mr Trump’s domestic and foreign policies since he returned to power in January. Democrats will be seeking to break the Republicans’ grip on both the House of Representatives and the Senate to block Mr Trump’s domestic agenda.
