A Statement from Rank the Vote on the Trump Administration’s Executive Order Targeting Mail-In Voting.
The Trump Administration’s executive order targeting mail-in voting and establishing a federal citizenship list is a clear threat to voter privacy, states rights, and democracy as a whole.
The order attempts to regulate mail-in ballots without any safeguards to voter and ballot privacy. In addition, the directive for the Department of Homeland Security to collect voter data and maintain a federal citizenship list is an overreach of the Federal government and a threat to voter privacy protections. The order conflicts with the ability for states to be laboratories of innovation and reform that has shaped American democracy since its founding.
Article I, Section 4 of the U. S. Constitution expressly grants states the authority to regulate elections — not the President. The president can only execute laws made by Congress, not make law himself. Sadly, this order is the most aggressive federal action in a long campaign against voting access.
We stand for the right of every American voter to fully participate in the democratic process without undue barriers or threats to privacy. We stand in solidarity with the rights of states to implement democracy solutions like mail in voting, voter access, ranked choice voting.
American democracy is not ruled by the whims of one person, but by We the People. We call on the Courts and Congress to act swiftly to uphold our right to vote and protect States’ rights.