Virginia’s attorney general plans to challenge an executive order by President Donald Trump that would add more restrictions and federal oversight to mail voting.
Attorney General Jay Jones (D) has indicated plans to join top elections officials in states like Oregon and Arizona, who pledged to mount legal opposition to the executive order within minutes of Trump signing it — arguing that the president was illegally encroaching on the right of states to run elections.
“The President’s latest executive order is a blatantly illegal and malicious attempt to block access to the ballot,” Jones said in a press release Tuesday night. “His order restricting mail-in voting is riddled with legal fallacies and authoritarian directives — it will be challenged and it will be defeated. Virginia will not stand by while the President continues to erode and undermine our democracy.”
The president’s executive order, signed on Tuesday, seeks to require ballots to have secure envelopes and unique barcodes for tracking. In addition, the U.S. Postal Service would keep a list of people eligible to receive mail ballots and only send ballots to people on the list. States would have to notify USPS 90 days before an election if they are using mail-in voting and provide a list of eligible mail voters 60 days before the election.
Federal funding could be withheld from states and localities that don’t comply.
“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what’s going on,” Trump said, repeating his false allegations about mail ballots as he signed the order. “I think this will help a lot with elections.”
The order also calls for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — with assistance from the Social Security Administration — to make a nationwide list of citizens eligible to vote. The president is also pushing for Congress to pass the SAVE Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to complete voter registration.
Virginia has allowed no-excuse absentee voting since 2020. Registered voters must apply for a mail ballot from their general registrar, but the state also allows voters to be added to a permanent absentee list to receive a mail ballot for all future elections.
U.S. elections are unique because they are not centralized. Rather than being run by the federal government, they’re conducted by election officials and volunteers in thousands of jurisdictions across the country, from tiny townships to sprawling urban counties with more voters than some states have people. The Constitution’s Elections Clause gives Congress the power to “make or alter” election regulations, at least for federal office, but it doesn’t mention presidential authority over election administration.
Trump’s order raised concerns about infringing on states’ constitutional authority to run their own elections.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan voting rights group, said the power to run elections lies with the states, not the federal executive branch.
“The League of Women Voters has always and will always stand unapologetically on the side of voters, particularly those who have been historically disenfranchised within our system, such as women, voters of color, voters with disabilities, and older adults,” the organization said in a statement. “The administration’s latest executive order (‘EO’) is a direct attack not only on voters, but on how elections are run in this country.”
David Becker, a former Justice Department lawyer who leads the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the Postal Service is run by a board of governors, and the president has no power to tell it what mail it can and cannot deliver.
A spokesperson for USPS said Tuesday the agency will review the order.
