Trump’s Unconstitutional Mail Ballot Power Grab Has GOP Officials on Edge

President Donald Trump’s latest assault on democratic norms is rattling Republicans as much as Democrats. His March 31 executive order attempts to federalize control over mail ballots by directing the Department of Homeland Security to create a national voter list and the Postal Service to send mail ballots only to those on it. The Department of Justice is then ordered to investigate and prosecute state election officials who defy the order.

This blatant overreach tramples Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which clearly vests states with sole authority over election administration. Predictably, Democratic officials and voting rights advocates swiftly filed lawsuits in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., aiming to block this unconstitutional power grab.

Yet the real story is how Trump’s order is fracturing the Republican Party. Many red state elected officials silently acquiesce, but election administrators in those same states are openly worried. David Becker, former Department of Justice lawyer and election expert, recently hosted a webinar with over 500 election officials from 42 states. He reported widespread concern, emphasizing that this is not a partisan issue. “There are at least as many Republicans expressing concern about these executive orders as Democrats,” Becker noted.

The Brennan Center for Justice highlighted that Trump’s order threatens not only officials but also postal workers, vendors, and volunteers who assist with ballots, exposing them to potential prosecution. In Pennsylvania, Republican Secretary of State Al Schmidt described the order as a source of “confusion” that risks undermining voter confidence. Schmidt, who survived death threats for defending election integrity in 2020, expressed hope the courts will strike down the order.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who fought off Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 loss, leads a coalition of over 20 states challenging the order in court. Shapiro, a rising Democratic star, recently boasted he “went 43-0 against Trump and his allies back in 2020.”

Mail ballot use surged during the 2020 pandemic election but has declined since. Still, 35% of voters cast mail ballots that year, including 26% who supported Republicans, according to Pew Research Center. Trump’s order isn’t about securing elections; it’s about controlling who gets to vote. His lies about mail ballot fraud are a smokescreen for this authoritarian power grab.

If Republicans want to uphold the Constitution and protect democracy, they must stop ceding state sovereignty to Trump’s illegal demands. The future of free and fair elections depends on it.