'No exceptions': Trump to order voter ID for every vote amid plans to axe mail-in voting

WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump took to his social media site Truth Social on Saturday, August 30, to announce plans to scrap mail-in ballots and voting machines before next year’s midterm elections.

He said an executive order would block states from using mail ballots and possibly certain voting machines. Trump has argued that voting machines are “highly inaccurate” and more expensive than watermarked paper ballots.

Most Americans already vote on paper ballots, though experts note hand-counting is less accurate and costlier than machine tabulators.

In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!! Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY!!! President DJT.”

The 79-year-old had earlier claimed that his lawyers were drafting an executive order to ban mail-in ballots, calling them “corrupt.” 

Trump earlier vowed to end mail-in ballots as 'Democrats want it'

During a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 19, Donald Trump had said, "We’re going to start with an executive order that’s being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt."

He added, "It’s time Republicans get tough and stop it, because Democrats want it. It’s the only way they can get elected."

Trump also claimed, without evidence, that the US is the only country to use mail voting. Ironically, before the 2024 election, he urged his supporters to vote by mail. Since then, Democrats have leaned heavily into mail voting, while many GOP-led states have restricted it.

Legal reality check from election experts

Constitutional scholars quickly pointed out that Donald Trump’s proposal would not hold.

“There’s really nothing the executive branch can do on its own in terms of direct mandates,” Michael Morley of Florida State University told NPR, stressing that only Congress can regulate federal elections.

UCLA law professor Richard Hasen agreed, explaining that unless Trump found a legal theory to ban voting machines or mail-in ballots under existing law, he would still need Congress. “I think he’d be unlikely to get any cooperation to impose federal interference on how the midterms are run,” Hasen said.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, added that the Founders intentionally kept the president out of elections. “Hamilton foresaw in Federalist 59 that a democracy must diversify power over elections to guard against an overzealous executive, which is why authority rests with the states,” Becker told NPR.

Trump's plan is a logistical nightmare in the making

Even if attempted, ending mail-in voting would create chaos.

Matt Germer, director of the governance program at the R Street Institute, said any executive order would be tied up in lawsuits. By the time courts ruled, states would still need to rewrite laws or craft entirely new voting systems.

“In some places, restricting voting by mail would simply force more people to vote in person,” Germer said. “That means investing in more polling sites, training volunteers, and making sure those locations can handle the surge.” He added that it was “highly unlikely” Trump could realistically end mail-in voting or certain machines before 2026.

Barbara Smith Warner, executive director of the National Vote at Home Institute, dismissed the idea altogether. “Efforts to eliminate this ignore the facts and only work to undermine confidence in elections,” she said, calling it “another federal overreach into states’ rights to run their own elections.”

Richard Hasen noted that Trump already tried to meddle in the 2020 election by working to overturn the results. He warned it “would not be surprising” if Trump now sought to interfere in the 2026 midterms as well.

“This is the time for states, courts, and others to prepare so that the 2026 elections are conducted with fairness and integrity,” Hasen said.