Illinois elections board says Trump executive order won't impact April 1 elections
Illinois voters will not be required to show proof of U.S. citizenship in the April 1 consolidated elections, despite an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
Trump's order, issued March 25, demands states not count mail-in ballots received after Election Day — even those postmarked prior to the election, which Illinois and 17 other states allow — and requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. It threatens to pull federal funding from states where election officials don’t comply.
“Above all, elections must be honest and worthy of the public trust,” the order reads. “Election-integrity standards must be modified accordingly.”
Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said the agency was aware of the order but that it would have no bearing on Tuesday's elections, meaning residents will not need proof of citizenship to vote on April 1. He said the agency was waiting on changes to state or federal law to update guidance for local election officials.
“They may interpret the executive order, and they may make legislative changes, but until this results in legislative changes, we really don’t have any sort of comment,” Dietrich told the Sun-Times Friday morning. “Regarding the election Tuesday, nothing changes.”
Trump’s order is likely to face legal challenges, given that the Constitution gives authority over elections to the states. While Congress can regulate voting, states have primary authority to set the “times, places and manner” for elections.
The ACLU has vowed to fight the order, calling it “a blatant overreach that threatens to disenfranchise tens of millions of eligible voters.” If it’s implemented, the group warned it would hit marginalized communities the hardest.
“We deserve better than elected officials weaponizing xenophobia and the myth of voter fraud to jeopardize our rights,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, the director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, in a statement. “We will do everything in our power to stop this unconstitutional attack on the right to vote to ensure that every eligible American can participate in our democracy.”
The order’s documentary proof of citizenship requirement signals that Trump is not waiting for congressional Republicans to pass their long-anticipated Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, which has aimed to do the same thing.
An estimated 9% of voting-age U.S. citizens, or 21.3 million people, don’t have proof of citizenship readily available, according to a 2023 report by the Brennan Center for Justice and other groups. The study also found racial disparities in the numbers, with about 8% of white voting-age U.S. citizens not having citizenship documents readily available compared to 11% of voting-age U.S. citizens of color.
Contributing: AP