PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – After President Trump signed an executive order earlier in March to reshape elections across the United States, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley are calling on the president to rescind the "anti-voter" executive order.

The executive order has several provisions, including requirements for voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship before they can register for federal elections and would only count mail-in or absentee ballots that are received by Election Day – while Oregon accepts ballots up to one week after Election Day as long as ballots are postmarked by Election Day.

In response, Oregon's senators joined a handful of their Democratic colleagues in a March 27 letter to the president, claiming the order would disenfranchise millions of Americans.

DON’T MISS: Trump executive order will make Oregon elections ‘less safe,’ Secretary of State says

“This unlawful directive exceeds your authority over an independent agency and would likely disenfranchise millions of eligible American voters by creating barriers to voting, while also inviting chaos into state voter registration processes – including by inappropriately sharing Americans’ data with the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE),” the lawmakers wrote. “Under the Constitution and existing law, this Executive Order cannot be implemented. Sadly, we are not surprised at your continued efforts to undermine our free and fair elections. From welcoming foreign election interference in our elections, to supporting the January 6 insurrection, to promoting baseless election conspiracy theories, your dangerous rhetoric has undermined public confidence in our election system.”

According to lawmakers, the proof of citizenship requirements in the executive order would be restrictive for millions of Americans who do not have easy access to documents proving their citizenship.

For example, nearly half of Americans do not have valid passports, the lawmakers said, adding millions of other Americans have a legal name that differs from other government-issued documents – including up to 69 million married women whose birth certificates no longer match their legal name.

The lawmakers argued that the order also goes against the Constitution’s foundation requiring elections to be primarily run by states and sounded the alarm over the order's attempt to allow DOGE and the Department of Homeland Security to review state voter registration lists, and other state and federal records with the power of subpoena.

"One of the most disturbing aspects of this illegal order is Sec. 2(b)(iii), which attempts to
empower DHS and the DOGE Administrator to review state voter registration lists, other state
records and various federal databases, with the power of subpoena. Voting by noncitizens is
already a federal crime and, despite unsubstantiated claims to the contrary, is extremely rare. By
interjecting DOGE into the process, this order would interfere with states’ maintenance of voter
registration lists, compromising voters’ personal information," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter was led by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and joined by a handful of senators including, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Patty Murray (D-WA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn).

While signing the executive order, Trump — who falsely claims he won the 2020 presidential election — said, “There are other steps that we will be taking in the coming weeks, and we think we’ll be able to end up getting fair elections,“ as reported by The New York Times. President Trump added, “This country is so sick because of the election, the fake elections and the bad elections, and we’re going to straighten it out one way or the other.”

While Trump has amplified claims of voter fraud, an investigation by The Associated Press into potential voter fraud in six battleground states disputed by Trump in the 2020 election, found there were fewer than 475 cases out of millions of votes cast, which was not enough to change the outcome of the election as Joe Biden won the six states with more than 311,000 votes across the six states.

Former election officials have also told AP that it's even more common to see suspected cases of voter fraud turn out to be a clerical error or misunderstanding.

The senators are not alone in their stance against the executive order.

In an interview with KOIN 6 News on March 27, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said Trump's order will make voting "less safe" in Oregon, explaining, “The bottom line is that this is an executive order that will have the effect of making it harder for Oregon citizens to vote and make our elections less secure and less safe. It’s the fundamental right of every American to hold their politicians accountable at the ballot box and this is an executive order that moves us away from that. I also don’t think it’s legal.”

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield has also hinted at potential legal challenges against the order, saying, “We all want fair and accessible elections, and Oregon has been leading in this area for decades. If President Trump or anyone else takes action that threatens the integrity of how we vote in Oregon, we will use all the legal tools we have to defend our state’s values and elections.”