The order directs USPS to introduce barcode tracking on mail ballots and instructs DHS to compile state citizenship lists.
By Catholics for Catholics
Right ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to implement stricter rules around mail-in voting.
The new order would entail a list to be made in each state of citizens who are eligible to vote. Also, absentee ballots will only be sent to those on the approved list; ballots will have secure envelopes with barcodes to track them.
Trump called the move a major step toward reinstating trust in U.S. elections.
The order instructs federal agencies to work with states to compile lists of eligible voters using federal citizenship and identity data, while also directing the U.S. Postal Service to develop new safeguards for mail-in ballots, including barcode tracking and verification measures.
Trump said the changes were made as a direct response to what he depicted as long-lasting liabilities in voting by mail.
President Trump signed an executive order aimed at tightening mail-in voting rules nationwide that would direct his administration to create a list of confirmed US citizens eligible to vote in each state https://t.co/Ml34EFb0Qg pic.twitter.com/3vHXYYBJuE
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 1, 2026
“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary,” he said. “It’s horrible what’s going on.”
Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary said the administration is fighting for a system that ties each ballot to a trackable envelope.
“If you voted by mail, you will have it on the envelope,” Lutnick said. “There’ll be a million envelopes… and you’ll be able to know exactly correctly, that citizens voted.”
In addition, Trump said more election-linked measures, including voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements, are also under consideration.
“We’d like to have voter ID, we’d like to have proof of citizenship… we’re working on that,” he said.
He also argued that opposition to such measures is politically motivated.
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