
Two Republican election officials say they expect legal challenges to succeed against President Donald Trump’s executive order placing new limits on mail-in voting, raising doubts about whether the policy will withstand scrutiny in court.
Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt and former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer both indicated that lawsuits already filed against the order are likely to prevail.
Speaking on ABC News’ “This Week,” Schmidt emphasized the importance of clarity and consistency in election procedures. “We want voters to know that the election is going to be free, fair, safe, and secure, and that everyone knows what the rules are prior to going into this,” Schmidt said. “So confusion is never a positive thing unless you are seeking to sow distrust in the outcome of an election,” Schmidt said.
Trump’s executive order calls for the federal government to assemble lists of verified U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state and to use federal databases to assist state officials in confirming voter eligibility.
The directive also instructs the U.S. Postal Service to deliver ballots only to individuals listed on each state’s approved mail-in voting rolls and mandates that election-related records be retained for a period of five years.
Opposition to the measure has quickly mounted. A group of Democratic state attorneys general announced Friday that they had filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston challenging the legality of the order. The case is one of several brought by Democratic organizations and voting rights groups seeking to block its implementation.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is also involved in litigation against the order, said the courts are likely to act swiftly. “We’re going to work as hard as we can to make sure that this is a free and fair election,” Jeffries said on “This Week.” “That executive order is unlawful and unconstitutional. We’ve already filed litigation, and we expect that it will be declared so in short order by the courts,” Jeffries said.
Richer, who oversaw elections in Arizona’s Maricopa County for several years, described the executive order as unnecessary, noting that his state already incorporates many of the safeguards the administration is seeking to implement nationwide. Arizona has “some of the underlying features that President Trump aspires to have in all elections,” Richer said. “While I agree with some of the elements in the executive order and some of the aspirations, the form does matter.”
The White House, however, has defended the move, maintaining that the order is designed to bolster election security and ensure that only eligible citizens are able to vote.