State reacts to President's executive order to create lists of verified voters

OLYMPIA - Trump issued an executive order on March 31, 2026, directing the creation of a national voter list and restricting mail-in voting. The order calls on the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to make the list. It also instructs the United States Postal Service to send mail-in ballots only to verified voters.

Though Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the order is legally foolproof, legal experts believe it is unconstitutional. A previous executive order on elections, signed a year ago, was blocked by federal judges who said the president lacked constitutional authority to set voting policy.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs issued a statement in response to the order, saying, "The President has no authority over elections; the United States Constitution grants that authority exclusively to states and Congress."

Hobbs said,"Washington's vote-by-mail elections reflect decades of secure and accurate elections, removing barriers to citizens who want to participate in our democratic process.

"Voting fraud is incredibly rare," said Hobbs. "There have been just 15 cases of noncitizen voting in Washington between 1982 and 2025, or 0.000006% of ballots cast. When issues do occur, our system is designed to identify and resolve them swiftly."

Washington ensures that elections are secure by regularly reviewing ts voter rolls and makes voting easy by sending ballots to all registered voters. The President's attempt to prevent registered voters from receiving ballots is unconstitutional and unfair to voters.

In the 2024 general election, nearly a third of all voters nationwide cast mail ballots.