No exceptions: Trump to issue executive order mandating voter ID in US elections

US President Donald Trump announced that he plans to issue an executive order requiring voter identification for all elections across the country, a move legal experts say will likely face constitutional challenges.

"Voter ID Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!" Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

In addition to mandating voter ID, Trump indicated he intends to ban voting by mail in all cases except for people who are "very ill" or serving in the military overseas.

LEGAL AUTHORITY IN QUESTION

Trump’s push comes amid his persistent, baseless claims that the 2020 election, which he lost, was stolen. He has repeatedly mischaracterised voting by mail as uniquely American, despite dozens of countries offering some form of mail-in voting. Ironically, Trump himself has voted by mail in past elections.

According to the US Elections Project, 14 states and Washington DC recorded more than 30% of votes by mail in the 2024 elections. Trump won half of those states, including Utah, where mail-in ballots accounted for 91.5% of votes, with Republican officials overseeing the election process.

Currently, 36 states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show identification at the polls, while the remaining states and Washington DC rely on other forms of identity verification. Reports claimed that voter fraud is extremely rare, and strict ID laws can disproportionately affect minorities, low-income voters, the elderly, disabled citizens, and students.

"As many as 11 percent of eligible voters do not have the kind of ID that is required by states with strict ID requirements, and that percentage is even higher among seniors, minorities, people with disabilities, low-income voters, and students," the Brennan Center for Justice said as quoted by The Guardian.

A previous attempt by Trump to require proof of citizenship for voter registration was blocked in June 2025. Federal courts ruled that the measure risked disenfranchising millions who do not possess passports, have difficulty accessing birth certificates, or whose legal names differ due to marriage.

WHO GETS HIT BY STRICT ID LAWS

This could affect tens of millions of Americans each election cycle, particularly first-time voters and those updating registration information. Some 146 million American citizens do not hold a US passport.

Trump’s latest announcement follows a March 2025 executive order directing the Election Assistance Commission to require passports or other government-issued proof of US citizenship for voter registration. That order, based on unverified claims that foreign nationals were voting, led to lawsuits from multiple states and injunctions from federal judges."

US District Judge Denise J. Casper issued a preliminary injunction in June, stating that the order "violates the Constitution" and "interferes with States’ inherent sovereignty and their constitutional power to regulate the time, place, and manner of federal elections."

- Ends

With inputs from agencies