United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order mandating that all voters, including Africans living in the United States, provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register and vote in federal elections.
The order signed by Trump is titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.”
Effective immediately, the citizenship proof order requires prospective voters to present government-issued identification, such as a U.S. passport or Real ID, verifying their citizenship status when registering.
This marks a significant shift from the current federal voter registration form, which relies on a sworn statement of citizenship under penalty of perjury.
For Nigerians-cum-Africans and other naturalized citizens, the new rule could pose logistical challenges, particularly for those without readily available citizenship documents.
Meanwhile, Trump, speaking at the White House as he signed the order, reiterated his long-standing claims of election fraud, stating, “This will ensure only American citizens decide American elections. We’re straightening out a broken system—hopefully, this ends it.”
“There are other steps that we will be taking in the coming weeks,” Trump said just before signing the order. “We think we’ll be able to end up getting fair elections.”
The order also prohibits states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day and threatens to withhold federal funding from non-compliant states.
According to the citizenship proof executive order, the attorney general would be empowered to “take all necessary action… against States that violate these provisions by including absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day in the final tabulation of votes.”
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that this latest executive order signed by President Trump comes weeks after he signed an executive order to end birthright citizenship, challenging a 125-year-old constitutional right as the current administration continues to pursue strict anti-immigration measures.
But election experts immediately criticized the move, saying it would disenfranchise millions of voters in the U.S, including naturalized citizens, something that signals that a legal showdown to challenge the move might be in the offing.
“This executive order would block tens of millions of American citizens from voting,” the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University wrote on X. “Presidents have no authority to do this. This order, like the SAVE Act now before Congress, would hurt voters and suppress the vote.”
…With News Wires
