Trump’s Order Will Disproportionately Harm Members of the Military & Married Women

CHICAGO — President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order this afternoon that attempts to make it more difficult for voters to participate in elections and gives Elon Musk authority over voter rolls nationwide. The EO would:

• Mandate the creation of a new federal voter registration form and demand a degree of paperwork that will undoubtedly disenfranchise voters – including disproportionately impacting military voters and their families and married women – from participating in elections.
• Create new unfunded mandates for election officials, and decertify election equipment currently in use across numerous states including Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, and South Carolina.
• Place Elon Musk in charge of vetting state voter lists – a responsibility that federal law already puts on states.

Sam Oliker-Friedland, executive director of the Institute for Responsive Government, issued the following statement:

“This executive order is essentially a step-by-step guide for weakening the integrity of the nation’s election infrastructure and creating new barriers to voting that would impact Americans from all walks of life. This approach simply distracts from a bipartisan consensus: only eligible voters should cast ballots in elections, and eligible voters shouldn’t be hindered from voting because of unnecessary paperwork.

“We know what is required to maintain election security in our country: Sustained and substantial federal funding, so that election officials have the resources they need to run secure and successful elections in their jurisdictions.

“Unfortunately, President Trump’s executive order doesn’t reflect the needs of election officials. It’s a stew of unfunded mandates and barriers that will make it more difficult for dedicated election officials of both parties to administer secure elections and more challenging for eligible voters to actually participate in our democracy. 

“The order demands the creation of systems that will be virtually impossible for election officials to achieve absent substantial federal funding: It calls for significant changes to voting equipment, but offers absolutely no funding whatsoever for election officials to make any new purchases. Nonsensically, the order then threatens to withhold federal funding for any jurisdictions not in compliance.

“Election officials are exceptionally committed public servants who work around the clock, election after election, to ensure everyone in their community can have their voices heard and their votes counted. We should listen to them when they tell us what they need to improve election integrity. They’re not asking for more unfunded mandates and obstacles – two things which are, unfortunately, at the heart of this executive order.”

To speak with a Responsive Gov expert about this EO, please contact dan@responsivegov.org. 

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The Institute for Responsive Government is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to ensuring state and federal governments work effectively for the very people they serve. The Institute for Responsive Government  provides data, research, and expertise to elected officials in order to find practical policy solutions that make government systems more efficient, accessible, and responsive.