Trump signs order on mail ballots, escalating election overhaul push

By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at tightening mail-in voting rules nationwide that would direct his administration to create a list of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state.

The order would also require absentee ballots to be sent only to voters on each state's approved mail-in ballot list and mandate secure ballot envelopes with unique tracking barcodes.

Any move to force changes to state-run election systems is likely to face immediate legal challenges.

The Republican president for years has held to his false claim that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud and has called for a tightening of rules for voting by mail ahead of the November midterm elections, when his party will be trying to defend its narrow majorities in Congress.

His vocal opposition to voting by mail did not stop Trump from casting his own vote that way in a special election in Florida last week. Asked about it, he said he cast a ballot by mail recently "because I'm president" and "I had a lot of different things" to do.

He has previously used executive action to direct federal agencies to help states verify voter citizenship and sought to bar states from counting mail ballots received after Election Day, a direct challenge to election procedures traditionally set by the states.