President Donald Trump has urged Congress to pass a proof of citizenship law, signed an executive order seeking nationwide voter ID requirements and sought to limit mail-in voting through U.S. Postal Service reforms.
None of these initiatives succeeded in time to influence this year’s midterm elections. In the United States it’s a different story.
More than three dozen voting laws passed by Republican-controlled states are taking effect for the first time this year, many containing elements of proposals Trump had stalled. They include changes to acceptable ID for first-time registration and a requirement to show proof of citizenship, an issue the Republican president tried but failed to pass in Congress.
“Trump’s attacks on our elections are profoundly damaging, but they do not occur in isolation,” said Sophia Lyn Larkin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project. “Across the country, states are also advancing restrictions that make it harder for eligible voters to cast their ballots.”
Republican lawmakers who support stricter voting laws, especially around voter ID, describe them as common-sense changes that would help build trust in elections.
Trump and other Republicans have been pushing for stricter rules since the president falsely claimed there was widespread fraud in his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump’s false claims resonated with Republican voters, most of whom believe Biden was not legitimately elected, despite all evidence suggesting otherwise. Trump has lost dozens of court challenges, his own attorney general has found no evidence of widespread fraud, and reviews, audits and recounts in key states where he disputed the defeat have all confirmed Biden’s victory.
Changes for voters as early voting gets underway include: New Hampshire students can no longer use their student IDs; Utah voters returning mail-in ballots must include more information on their envelopes; and some voters in Mississippi may need a birth certificate or passport to verify their identity.
Changes in voter ID requirements challenged
New Hampshire Rep. Donald McFarland said he sponsored the bill to remove the right to vote with a student ID because colleges do not have the same control over issuing student IDs as government agencies.
“This change eliminates special exceptions and applies the same government-issued identification standards to all voters,” he said, adding that his bill has bipartisan support.
Students can still get a state ID card for free, he said.
The new requirements have not gone unchallenged.
In South Dakota, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit trying to block a new law that would, among other things, require voters to show the most common forms of identification — a driver’s license, tribal ID and a non-driving state ID — when registering for the first time. They must present it in person at the place where registration is accepted.
“Citizenship itself is not scary,” said Katherine Johnson, president of the League of Women Voters of South Dakota.
Her concern was having to show ID in person.
“We’re a remote state, so sometimes you have to drive, you have to coordinate, you have to get off work, and all these things,” she said.
Some Democrats have also expressed support for voter ID during recent debates. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he was open to the idea as long as it wasn’t based on “conspiracy theories.” When legislatures change a state’s voting laws, they typically give election offices and voters time to adjust. Trump wants federal voter ID and proof of citizenship legislation to take effect immediately, forcing election officials and voters to comply in the middle of the midterm elections.
Ohio seeks to clean up voter rolls
For the first time this year, Ohio is enforcing proof of citizenship requirements for those who register to vote or update their voter registration information with the Department of Motor Vehicles. The state has also eliminated a four-day grace period for mail-in ballots, which must now be received at local elections offices by Election Day.
Voting rights groups are most concerned, however, about the ongoing purges of the state’s voter rolls. Freda Levenson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said the database used to check citizenship status against voter registration lists may be outdated. The group has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the law.
“Large numbers of fully eligible voters could easily be disenfranchised,” she said.
Republican state Sen. Theresa Gavarone, one of the bill’s lead sponsors, questioned the ACLU’s legal action and said the problems it addresses are real.
“Over the past two years, hundreds of non-citizens have been removed from Ohio’s voter rolls,” she said in an email. “Every vote cast by a non-citizen disenfranchises legal Ohio voters.”
Voters have mixed views on the changes
Outside an early voting center in Wayne County, Ohio, Dan Walter, an independent voter and retired steelworker, said he opposed requiring proof of citizenship documents to vote.
“In my opinion, this is an attempt to stop people from voting,” he said.
His wife, Jody, a retired aerospace executive and Democrat, said she feels the same way about Ohio’s new requirement to register to vote.
“A driver’s license does not prove citizenship, and that’s what they’re asking for now,” she said. “That’s going to be a barrier for a lot of people.”
watch: What the Supreme Court’s Voter Citizen Database decision means for the midterm elections
Genia Fortune sees things differently. The Millersburg resident, a nurse, describes herself as an independent and said she voted for Democratic President Barack Obama and later for Trump. She believes Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and believes requiring proof of citizenship documents is a necessary precaution.
“I just think you need to become a citizen and show ID,” she said.
Voting and election laws have become a frequent target of the Legislature
The Trump administration has launched a variety of strategies to influence this year’s midterm elections, most of which have been blocked by Congress or the courts.
Chris Diaz, director of legislative tracking at the Voting Rights Lab, said the group has seen several versions of the Republican president’s proposal passed by his allies in the states.
A recent report from the group highlighted some of the key areas that have attracted the attention of Republican lawmakers, including mail-in voting, voter identification and finding non-citizens on voter rolls.
While noncitizen voting is a rare issue, it has been a focus of the Trump administration. The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that it had filed charges in approximately 90 cases of various election misconduct, 50 of which targeted people who allegedly voted as non-citizens. There are 227 million registered voters in the United States for the 2024 presidential election.
The Brennan Center for Justice has identified nearly 40 laws in 21 states that will go into effect this election season that will make it harder for eligible voters to register, stay on the rolls or cast a ballot.
The report from the center, which is affiliated with New York University School of Law, found that many of the new laws target some segments of the electorate.
“The lesson I hope voters take away from this is that elections are still conducted by the states, and there are still people in many states trying to make it more difficult to vote,” said Sean Morales-Doyle, senior director of the center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program. “But this is all the more reason to have plans to vote and participate.”
Fields reported from Washington, and Smith reported from Wooster and Millersburg, Ohio.
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