President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that would seek to cut federal grants to states who don’t adopt tougher standards for voter registration, the latest Republican step in the political fight over access to the voter rolls.
The executive order would add a question to the national voter registration form explicitly asking registrants to affirm they are U.S. citizens. The effort would also reduce grants for states to update their election-related cybersecurity and voting equipment if the administration deems they have not done enough to secure their election rolls. It calls on the Department of Justice to “vigorously” prosecute election crimes.
Additionally, the action revokes an executive order signed by former President Joe Biden that directs government departments and employees to undertake activities to get out the vote.
“Perhaps some people think I shouldn’t be complaining, because we won in a landslide, but we’ve got to straighten out our election,” Trump said before signing the order.
Republicans, including Trump, have alleged that their political opponents have sought to register undocumented migrants and other ineligible voters. Democrats note that proven cases of voter fraud are rare and that tougher standards can often create barriers to registering low-income voters in particular.