Trump threatens an executive order to mandate voter IDs before elections

The US president’s message comes as part of a broader push to increase federal control of the election process, raising legal questions.President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on February 13 [Matt Rourke/AP Photo]Published On 14 Feb 2026United States President Donald Trump has hinted at a new executive order that would force election organisers to require voter identification before distributing ballots.In a social media post on Friday, the Republican leader warned he would soon take executive action, apparently frustrated by a lack of progress on the issue in Congress.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump says planning to ‘make visit’ to Venezuela following Maduro abductionlist 2 of 3Court orders Trump administration to facilitate deported student’s returnlist 3 of 3Trump says US will send second aircraft carrier to Middle East ‘very soon’end of list“This is an issue that must be fought, and must be fought, NOW,” Trump wrote.“If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.”It was not clear from his message what those legal reasons might be. But Trump’s post comes two days after the US House of Representatives successfully passed a bill to require documents that prove citizenship before voter registration.That bill, however, is unlikely to go any further, as it faces steep odds in the Senate.In the US, it is illegal for non-citizens to participate in elections, and voter fraud is exceedingly rare.Nevertheless, Trump and his Republican allies have repeatedly claimed that election rigging is widespread. Trump himself has continued to falsely claim that he won the 2020 presidential election, despite bipartisan pushback from election officials about the accuracy of the tally.But faced with drooping poll numbers, Trump has turned his attention to November’s midterm elections, which will decide which party controls Congress for the last two years of his term.Already, Trump has expressed fears that, should the Democrats claim the majority in the Republican-held House of Representatives, he could face a third impeachment.He was successfully impeached twice in his first term, once for abusing his office and a second time for inciting an insurrection, after his supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.The midterms featured prominently in Trump’s message on Friday. He urged Republicans to leverage popular support for voter ID laws in their campaigns for November.“Republicans must put this at the top of every speech – It is a CAN’T MISS FOR RE-ELECTION IN THE MIDTERMS, AND BEYOND,” Trump wrote.A study from the Pew Research Center in 2025 found that US citizens from both major parties overwhelmingly supported requiring photo identification before registering to vote.The rate was higher among Republicans, 95 percent of whom supported such measures. But approximately 71 percent of Democrats also favoured such legislation.But voting rights advocates and Democratic leadership have largely opposed such measures.They argue that providing photo identification could be burdensome for members of low-income and marginalised communities who may not have easy access to documents that prove their identity.That, in turn, could disenfranchise US citizens who might otherwise cast a ballot.Voter ID laws are not uncommon in the US, though: Roughly 36 states have measures on the books that require residents to show proof of identity before voting, though they vary as to their strictness.Congress has also weighed such bills before, including last year. But a renewed push has begun as the midterm elections approach and Trump pressures states for increased federal control over elections.The US Constitution requires that states, not the federal government, administer the “times, places and manner of holding elections”. Election organising, therefore, takes place at the state and local level.But Trump has threatened to take away that constitutional power. Speaking to conservative podcaster Dan Bongino earlier this month, the president suggested the federal government should take over the election process.“We should take over the voting, the voting, in at least, many, 15 places,” Trump said, tripping over his words slightly. “The Republicans ought to nationalise the voting.”His comments coincided with the reintroduction of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act earlier this month.The expanded version of the bill initially required proof of citizenship, not just at the time of voter registration but ahead of each ballot cast, in the form of a passport or a birth certificate – documents many US citizens lack.That provision has since been amended, but critics have also blasted measures that would require state voter rolls to go to the federal government as unconstitutional.The bill passed the House on Wednesday with 218 votes in support and 213 against. Only one Democrat, Henry Cuellar, voted in favour of the latest SAVE Act.But even with its House passage, the legislation is unlikely to attract enough backing to overcome the Senate filibuster, a tool which allows the minority to block passage of a bill if it fails to attract at least 60 votes in the 100-seat chamber.Trump railed against the filibuster, and Democrats in general, in his social media post on Friday.“We cannot let the Democrats get away with NO VOTER I.D. any longer. These are horrible, disingenuous CHEATERS,” he wrote.He also called upon the Supreme Court to reject Democrats’ priorities, calling them “corrupt”, “deranged”, “demented” and “evil”.But advocacy groups like the Brennan Center for Justice called on the Senate to reject the latest voter ID push.“These bills are part of a broader federal agenda to sow distrust in our elections, undermine election administration, and discourage Americans from making their voices heard,” the Brennan Center said in a statement.