President Donald Trump has announced that he will pursue an executive order requiring all voters to present identification when voting.
While Trump claims that this executive order is intended to ensure “election integrity,” it is already sparking legal controversy as an attempt to exceed his constitutional authority. On the 31st, President Trump announced on his social media account, TruthSocial, that “Voter ID will be required for all voting. No exceptions.” He added, “I will issue an executive order to this end.” He also reaffirmed that mail-in voting will be restricted except for those critically ill or deployed overseas and announced plans to restrict the use of electronic voting machines and mandate paper ballots across the country.
Since losing the 2020 presidential election, President Trump has consistently pushed for the elimination of ID requirements and mail-in voting, claiming that mail-in voting has contributed to election fraud. On the 18th, President Trump declared that he would lead a campaign to eliminate mail-in voting, stating, “States, as agents of the federal government and the President, must follow the guidance. This action will restore the integrity of the 2026 election.” Republicans have also been strengthening ID requirements in recent years, citing widespread illegal voting by non-citizens.
Currently, 36 of the 50 states require voters to present ID, with 10 of them requiring photo ID. However, since the federal constitutional authority to administer elections lies with the states and Congress, the executive order is likely to face legal challenges. In fact, President Trump signed an executive order in March requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register as a voter, but the order was suspended in June by a federal court on the grounds that “the Constitution does not grant the President specific powers over elections.” Some also point out that the lack of a national ID card in the United States, like that in Korea, is a significant problem.
While driver’s licenses and passports are generally the most used forms of identification, those living in rural areas or low-income earners often do not have these forms of identification and thus often lack them. For this reason, mandating identification during voting is known to effectively disenfranchise low-income and vulnerable groups.