Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections
The White House
This executive order directs federal agencies to create a unified database of verified U.S. citizens to assist states in confirming voter eligibility for federal elections, and mandates the United States Postal Service to implement strict new tracking and verification rules for all mail-in and absentee ballots.
The action aims to enforce existing federal laws prohibiting non-citizens from voting by tightening the logistics of voter registration and ballot distribution, which will affect how mail-in voting functions.
The USPS is tasked with creating new regulations requiring all mail-in ballots to feature official markings and unique, trackable barcodes, and the Postal Service will only deliver mail-in ballots to individuals who are pre-enrolled on a state-provided participation list.
Behind the scenes, the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration are tasked with compiling a "State Citizenship List" to share with local officials 60 days before any federal election.
States will receive this data to cross-reference against their own voter rolls, though appearing on the federal list does not automatically register an individual to vote.
Citizens will eventually have a process to access and correct their federal citizenship records ahead of election cycles.
The Department of Justice is directed to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of any election officials or private organizations that distribute federal ballots to ineligible individuals.
To ensure compliance, the Attorney General is authorized to withhold federal funding from states or local municipalities that fail to adhere to these new verification standards.
