Expect court challenge if Trump mandates voter ID
By: Maureen Groppe
USA Today
WASHINGOTN - President Donald Trump is plowing ahead with effort to change election rules despite initial court rulings that he doesn't have the power to do so.
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Trump said on August 30 [2025] he will sign an executive order requiring votes provide identificaiton in every election. Trump's executive order is expected to be challenged in court once he signs it.
..... An executive order Trump signed in March [2025] requiring people to show government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections has been blocked by the courts.
..... "The constitution does not grant the
president any specific powers over elections,: U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Massachusetts wrote in June. [2025]
..... In April, [2025] a federal judge in Washington, DC, reached the same conclusion.
..... In post on Truth Social, Trump said: "Voter ID Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!!"
..... He did not say what type of identification he wants to require, when he would sing the order or why he has the authority to impose the rule.
..... Trump has long questioned the U.S. electrical system and continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud. The president and his Republican allies have also made baseless claims about widespread voting by non-citizens, which is illegal and rarely occurs.
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Thirty-six status require voters to show some form of identification at the pools according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Depending on the state, the identification can be a photo ID, such as a driver's license, or a non-photo ID, such as a bank statement.
..... States that require neither check a voter's identity a different way, most often by comparing the voter;s signature with one on file, according to the NCSL.
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In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's photo ID requirement for voters.
..... "In sum, on the basis of the record that has been made in this litigation, we cannot conclude that the statute imposes "excessively burdensome requirements' on any class of voters," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the 6-3 majority.
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Earlier this year, [2025] Trump's proof-of-citizenship directive for voter registration was immediately challenged in court. In April [2025] U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington sided with the league of Women Voters Education Fund, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Democratization National Committee and other challengers.
..... Kollar-Kotelly blocked Trump's order from moving forward as the case is being litigated, ruling that the president likely exceeded his authority.
..... "Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the States - not the President - with the authority to regulate federal elections," she wrote.
..... In June, [2025] Casper - the federal judge in Massachusetts - ruled on a separate lawsuit borough by 19 states.
..... Casper said the states showed that the citizenship requirement for registration and Trump's att3empt to prevent states form counting mail ballots received after Election Day are likely to disfranchise eligible voters.
..... Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today