Trump signs order aiming to create national voter list, limit mail-in voting

Trump signs order to create national voter list

President Donald Trump signed an order that aims to create a national voter list. The plan would restrict absentee ballots to approved voters only. Trump also called for ballots to have secure envelopes and a unique barcode for tracking.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that aims to create a list of verified eligible voters in each state in a bid to add further restrictions to voting ahead of this year’s midterm elections. 

Dig deeper:

US President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

The order calls on the Department of Homeland Security, working in conjunction with the Social Security Administration, to make the list of eligible voters in each state. 

It also seeks to bar the U.S. Postal Service from sending absentee ballots to those not on each state’s approved list.

Trump is also calling for ballots to have secure envelopes with unique barcodes for tracking, according to the executive order.

Trump’s previous efforts to change election procedures

The backstory:

Trump’s first election executive order in March sought sweeping changes to how elections are run across the country, including adding a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form and requiring mailed ballots to be received at election offices by Election Day.

Much of it has been blocked through legal challenges brought by voting rights groups and Democratic state attorneys general who allege it’s an unconstitutional power grab that would disenfranchise large groups of voters.