On March 25, 2025, President Trump signed the executive order "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections," establishing sweeping federal requirements for election administration that voting rights experts said exceeded presidential authority. The order mandated documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration in federal elections, set a deadline for receiving mail-in ballots by election day, authorized federal review of voter registration lists in all 50 states, and opened access to federal immigration databases for state and local officials to verify voter citizenship.
The order's key provisions included: requiring documentary proof of citizenship (passport or birth certificate) to register to vote, while explicitly excluding student IDs and employee IDs; requiring all mail-in and absentee ballots to be received by election day, effectively eliminating the late-arriving ballot provisions used by many states, particularly those with universal vote-by-mail systems; directing recertification of all voting systems to meet updated standards within 180 days; authorizing the DHS and DOJ to conduct federal reviews of state voter registration rolls; and threatening to withhold federal funding from non-compliant states.
Legal challenges were immediate and successful. In April, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction in LULAC v. Executive Office of the President, pausing several key provisions. In June, the District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued additional injunctions in State of California v. Trump, blocking further provisions. The League of Women Voters, Brennan Center, and multiple state attorneys general filed separate challenges.
Despite the court blocks, the order achieved its strategic purpose: it authorized the DOJ voter data seizure campaign that sent demand letters to 44 states beginning in May 2025, filed lawsuits against states that refused, and circulated secret memoranda of understanding for voter purge programs. The order also created complications for voters who had changed their names from what appeared on their birth certificates -- including married women and transgender individuals -- and placed disproportionate burdens on voters without passports, particularly low-income citizens and communities of color.