WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews)-Pro Trump activists are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that claims Chinese interference in the 2020 election as grounds for declaring a national emergency, which they argue would grant the president broad authority over U.S. voting processes.

The activists, who say they are coordinating with the White House, expect the proposal to influence an executive order President Donald Trump has previewed on election matters. Trump has repeatedly called for mandating voter ID and banning mail-in ballots ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The White House declined to comment on Trump’s specific plans.

Peter Ticktin, a Florida attorney advocating for the draft, said the Constitution assigns election administration to state legislatures, but foreign interference creates a national emergency justifying presidential action.

“Under the Constitution, it’s the legislatures and states that really control how a state conducts its elections, and the president doesn’t have any power to do that,” Ticktin told The Washington Post. Ticktin, who attended New York Military Academy with Trump and served on his legal team in a 2022 lawsuit alleging Democratic collusion claims damaged him, added: “But here we have a situation where the president is aware that there are foreign interests that are interfering in our election processes. That causes a national emergency where the president has to be able to deal with it.”

Ticktin argued the emergency declaration would allow the president to ban mail ballots and voting machines, viewing them as potential channels for foreign meddling.

The draft’s emergence comes amid Trump’s push for stricter voting rules, including national voter ID requirements, which he has said he may pursue via executive order if Congress does not act. Legal experts have noted that the Constitution reserves primary authority over elections to the states, limiting federal executive intervention absent specific statutory grounds.