Trump Is Building a Federal List of Who Can Vote. The Post Office Is Key To The Plan.
The big picture: Trump signed an executive order directing DHS and the Social Security Administration to build a nationwide list of “eligible voters” and barring the U.S. Postal Service from delivering mail ballots to anyone the administration deems ineligible. He’s threatening states with funding cuts if they don’t comply. Several states are already suing. Meanwhile, he became the first sitting president to attend a Supreme Court hearing, sitting front row for arguments on his attempt to end birthright citizenship.
Why it matters: Mail voting fraud occurs in about 4 cases per 10 million ballots, according to Brookings. The DHS verification system has already flagged hundreds of actual citizens as ineligible. The Constitution gives states authority over elections. The Postal Service is supposed to be independent. AND 125 years of legal precedent says you’re a citizen if you’re born here. He’s not preventing fraud. He’s trying to control who votes.
The voter list: DHS and SSA directed to build a nationwide eligible voter list. USPS barred from delivering mail ballots to anyone deemed ineligible. Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from non-compliant states and said the DOJ will “investigate and prosecute” anyone involved in distributing ballots to “ineligible” voters.
The data problem: The DHS citizenship verification system has been criticized for containing unreliable data. After just a few states began using it, hundreds of actual citizens were flagged as non-citizens. The Brennan Center: “Our government’s citizenship lists are incomplete and inaccurate. The United States Postal Service is overburdened and inadequate. This combines a car crash with a train wreck.”
The legal issues: The Constitution gives states broad election authority. Federal intervention generally requires an act of Congress, not executive decree. The USPS Board of Governors is supposed to be independent. BUT Trump has been appointing loyalists and has proposed absorbing USPS into the Commerce Department. Arizona’s Secretary of State: “It is just wrongheaded for a president to pretend like he can pick his own voters.”
Birthright citizenship: Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship reached the Supreme Court today. He attended in person — the first sitting president to do so. He sat front row with cabinet members. The justices never acknowledged him. Roberts called Trump’s lawyers’ historical examples “very quirky.” Kagan said the text doesn’t support Trump’s argument. Kavanaugh noted Congress codified the clause decades ago. Only Thomas and Alito appeared sympathetic.
By the numbers:
0.000043% — mail voting fraud rate (Brookings)
4 — fraud cases per 10 million ballots
125 — years of legal precedent on birthright citizenship
24+ — states sued by the White House over voter roll demands
3 — states where federal judges tossed those suits
0 — sitting presidents who attended SCOTUS arguments before today
100s — citizens flagged as non-citizens by the DHS verification system
The bottom line: He’s building a federal list of who can vote, ordering the Post Office to block ballots, threatening to prosecute anyone who sends them, trying to end birthright citizenship, and showed up to personally stare down the Supreme Court after calling its justices “a disgrace.” Mail voting fraud is 4 cases per 10 million. The verification system is unreliable. States run elections. The Post Office is supposed to be independent. AND 125 years of precedent says you’re a citizen if you’re born here. There is no subtlety left in what he’s doing.
Brookings Institution | Brennan Center for Justice
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