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EO 14248 directs proof of citizenship onto the federal voter form

25 March 2025 · written 12 September 2026

President Trump signed Executive Order 14248, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” on 25 March 2025; it was published at 90 FR 14005 on 28 March.1 Section 2(a)(i) directs that “[w]ithin 30 days of the date of this order, the Election Assistance Commission shall take appropriate action to require, in its national mail voter registration form issued under 52 U.S.C. 20508 … documentary proof of United States citizenship.”12 Section 7(a) directs the Attorney General to “take all necessary action to enforce 2 U.S.C. 7 and 3 U.S.C. 1 against States that violate these provisions by including absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the final tabulation of votes.”13 The order rests on “the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,” naming no statute as its source of authority.1

  1. Three of the order’s levers run through a commission of four members. The Election Assistance Commission is directed to change the federal form under section 2(a)(i), to “cease providing Federal funds to States that do not comply with the Federal laws set forth in 52 U.S.C. 21145” under section 4(a), and to condition funding on a state ballot-receipt deadline under section 7(b).14 The Commission “shall have four members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,” under 52 U.S.C. 20923(a)(1).5

  2. The ballot deadline arrives as a funding condition rather than a rule. Section 7(b) directs the Commission to condition “any available funding to a State on that State’s compliance with the requirement in 52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(6)” that states adopt uniform standards defining what counts as a vote, “including that … there be a uniform and nondiscriminatory ballot receipt deadline of Election Day for all methods of voting.”16 Ballots cast under 52 U.S.C. 20301 and following — the overseas and military voting statute — are excluded from that deadline.17

  3. What counts as documentary proof is fixed by a closed list, and an ordinary driver’s licence is not on it. Section 2(a)(ii) enumerates a United States passport; a REAL ID-compliant identification document “that indicates the applicant is a citizen of the United States”; an official military identification card carrying the same indication; and a federal or state photo identification, but only “if such identification indicates that the applicant is a United States citizen or if such identification is otherwise accompanied by proof of United States citizenship.”18 A licence that establishes identity without establishing citizenship does not satisfy the section on its own.1

  4. State voter rolls are to be reviewed by Homeland Security together with the DOGE Administrator. Section 2(b)(iii) directs the Department of Homeland Security, “in coordination with the DOGE Administrator,” to review “each State’s publicly available voter registration list and available records concerning voter list maintenance activities as required by 52 U.S.C. 20507,” against federal immigration databases and state records, “including through subpoena where necessary and authorized by law” (see DOGE established by executive order).1910

Footnotes

  1. Executive Order 14248 of 25 March 2025, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” 90 FR 14005–14010, published 28 March 2025, FR Doc. 2025-05523. § 1 (purpose, including the comparisons to India, Brazil, Germany, Canada, Denmark and Sweden, and the citation of Republican National Committee v. Wetzel (5th Cir. 2024) for the proposition that 2 U.S.C. 7 and 3 U.S.C. 1 set “the day by which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials”); § 2(a)(i)–(ii) (the form requirement, the recording of document type under 52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(5)(A), and the enumerated proofs); § 2(b) (database access through Homeland Security and State, and the DOGE review); § 2(c) (90 days; Homeland Security to give the Attorney General information on foreign nationals who have indicated on an immigration form that they registered or voted); § 2(d) (citizenship assessment before providing a federal form to public-assistance enrollees under 52 U.S.C. 20506(a)); § 2(e)–(f) (prioritised enforcement of 18 U.S.C. 611 and 1015(f), and coordination with State attorneys general); § 3 (Social Security Number Verification Service and Death Master File made available to State and local election officials); § 4 (funding cutoff under 52 U.S.C. 21003(b)(3) and 21142(c)); § 5 (information-sharing agreements between the Attorney General and chief State election officials); § 6 (voting system security, referencing 42 U.S.C. 5195c); § 7 (Election Day compliance); § 8 (52 U.S.C. 30121 on foreign national contributions and 31 U.S.C. 1352 on lobbying with appropriated funds); § 9 (agencies to cease actions implementing Executive Order 14019 of 7 March 2021, revoked by Executive Order 14148 of 20 January 2025, and to report within 90 days). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/28/2025-05523/preserving-and-protecting-the-integrity-of-american-elections ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  2. 52 U.S.C. § 20508, “Federal coordination and regulations,” under which the Election Assistance Commission issues the national mail voter registration form; § 20508(b)(3) governs what the form may require. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title52-section20508&edition=prelim ↩

  3. 2 U.S.C. § 7, “Time of election,” and 3 U.S.C. § 1, “Time of appointing electors,” which fix the uniform federal election day and the day for appointing presidential electors. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title2-section7&edition=prelim ↩

  4. 52 U.S.C. § 21145, the provision listing federal election-administration requirements to which section 4(a) of the order ties continued funding, including the requirement at 52 U.S.C. § 20505(a)(1) that States accept and use the national mail voter registration form. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title52-section21145&edition=prelim ↩

  5. 52 U.S.C. § 20923(a)(1): “The Commission shall have four members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.” The section also provides for recommendations from congressional leadership before appointments. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title52-section20923&edition=prelim ↩

  6. 52 U.S.C. § 21081, “Voting systems standards”; subsection (a)(6) requires each State to adopt uniform and nondiscriminatory standards defining what constitutes a vote and what will be counted as a vote. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title52-section21081&edition=prelim ↩

  7. 52 U.S.C. § 20301 and following, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, whose ballots section 7(b) excludes from the Election Day receipt deadline. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title52-section20301&edition=prelim ↩

  8. REAL ID Act of 2005, Public Law 109-13, Division B, which sets federal standards for state-issued identification documents. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-109publ13/html/PLAW-109publ13.htm ↩

  9. 52 U.S.C. § 20507, the National Voter Registration Act’s requirements for state voter list maintenance. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title52-section20507&edition=prelim ↩

  10. Executive Order 14158 of 20 January 2025 established the Department of Government Efficiency and the position the order calls the DOGE Administrator. See DOGE established by executive order. ↩

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