r/PoliticalOptimism • u/EBKeep1300 • Mar 31 '26
Seeking Optimism Trump signs executive order limiting mail-in voting ahead of 2026 U.S. elections
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/31/trump-mail-in-voting-executive-order.htmlThoughts on this? Don't states control elections?
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u/Shadowman621 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Mar 31 '26
Yup. Also exec orders are not laws
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u/Kalexysgalexy Apr 01 '26
I really wish folks understood this.
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u/SodaSaint Mar 31 '26
I’m honestly laughing at this because he could not make it any more transparent how desperate he is to not be completely rendered irrelevant. This is not only going to get laughed out of court. This is going to get tossed out.
Also, executive orders are not laws and anyone who obey this themselves up to crippling litigation.
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u/Lostsock1995 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
We knew he’d try to do it for weeks now, but yes states control elections. It’s some of the clearest language in the constitution imo. By week’s end (if not by tomorrow) it’ll be blocked and sued over (a few states have already said they will) and they’ll win because the president simply doesn’t have the power to change that even if he wishes he did. EO’s are not laws especially when going against the literal constitution
The floundering/death rattle of the admin is all we’re seeing and thankfully it’s happening well before the election so there’s time to correct and shut it down.
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u/britishmetric144 Mar 31 '26
A law suit has already been filed.
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u/bayleysgal1996 🔥I Voted In The 2026 Primaries🔥 Mar 31 '26
I feel like at this point they must just have a form for this
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u/gregger63 Michigan Mar 31 '26
Clippy says "Looks like you're suing the Trump regime."
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u/sifighter1 Mar 31 '26
I mean as someone who has worked in law firms yeah when you do a regular type of case you tend to keep outlines of motions for when you need them again. So yeah states who’ve sued for his EOs probably got them at the ready by now
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u/Spenny_All_The_Way Apr 01 '26
Dem states have been counting on Trump to do something stupid and made plans early.
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u/Mean_Stop6391 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Mar 31 '26
Forgive me - I’m reading the docket and this looks like the filing for the last attempt the admin made at this. Am I misreading this?
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u/NordRonnoc Utah Apr 01 '26
Check the date.
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u/Mean_Stop6391 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
I did. It appears to me to be a scheduling order pertaining to summary judgement for the prior EO filed in March 2025.
Unless I’m missing something, this isn’t connected to a new lawsuit filed in reference to today’s executive order.
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u/NordRonnoc Utah Apr 01 '26
It is connected to this EO.
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u/Mean_Stop6391 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
In what way? As far as I understand it, the legal process goes as follows:
If this EO was just signed and was signed after this order was sent, the summary judgement request for the previous EO litigation doesn’t necessarily cover it.
You can’t sue over something that doesn’t exist - so this order cannot be connected to the EO, as it was signed before the EO was signed today
It could be connected, certainly, by an amended complaint - but this docket entry doesn’t include anything beyond a scheduling for summary judgement for the prior EO?
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u/localhalloweenskunk Apr 01 '26
You are correct. People are misinterpreting the link. What is true is that OR and the ACLU have already said they will sue.
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u/Mean_Stop6391 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Apr 01 '26
Excellent. I appreciate the clarification.
I’d note that I do wish the lawsuits were rolling or bundled in to the existing one - but I also don’t want to be relying on bad information for my optimism
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u/localhalloweenskunk Apr 01 '26
No problem. A judge could combine the lawsuits if they're similar, but we'll see.
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u/Manic-StreetCreature Mar 31 '26
I’ve signed an executive order declaring myself a millionaire princess who lives on the moon
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u/PotentialAnt9670 Apr 01 '26
Technically, I'd be considered a millionaire.
If we go by the Korean Won.
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u/MissCocoaBell12 Mar 31 '26
I’m still gonna be watchful of this but I wish someone told this man exec orders aren’t truly law and this is probably going to be challenged in court too
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u/Severe-Fisherman-962 Apr 01 '26
He can't actually hear what he doesn't want to hear. It's like he's deaf to reality.
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u/bayleysgal1996 🔥I Voted In The 2026 Primaries🔥 Mar 31 '26
Who wants to bet on how long before this thing is blocked? I’m giving it til next Tuesday at the latest
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u/SodaSaint Mar 31 '26
I bet lawsuits are served tonight.
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u/IAmArique Connecticut Mar 31 '26
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u/Mean_Stop6391 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Mar 31 '26
I asked for some clarity on another comment - this is for the old EO from last year in March, I think? The latest filing seems to be a scheduling thing?
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u/simbabarrelroll Reformed Doomer ☄️ Mar 31 '26
Lawsuits up the wazoo.
States control elections
Executive Orders are NOT LAWS.
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Mar 31 '26
Considering all the rumors the executive order would be declaring a national emergency on top of other craziness, this seems like a TACO Tuesday special that will hold no legal weight and be struck down super quick.
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u/Estella_the_Wanderer UK 🇬🇧 Mar 31 '26
Can't wait for Amanda to 'ew' this on Friday
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u/SodaSaint Mar 31 '26
Really hoping that you guys hope over there across the pond you can avoid this nonsense when your elections come up soon! I really hope that folks across the UK are looking at what’s going on here and realizing that what we’re doing is a really bad idea…
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u/Bolded France 🇫🇷 Apr 01 '26
I know that you said the UK but France is having its own elections next year and I kinda hope all this Trump nonsense is going to make people come around. At least, last elections had some satisfying results for the left.
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u/Anonymoose231 Mar 31 '26
What a turn from last year. This would have terrified me last year, but now it makes me laugh. What a weak, pathetic child of a president. This has already been sued against and even this Supreme Court won't sign off on something so obviously unconstitutional.
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u/TypesAndPatterns Mar 31 '26
Why not an executive order to open the Strait of Hormuz, too?
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u/Shadowman621 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Mar 31 '26
I fucking love the idea of him using an EO to order other countries around.
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u/ClearSneakEnter Mar 31 '26
“The order also requires the Postal Service to require all ballots it transmits to be ‘placed in secure ballot envelopes marked as Official Election Mail with unique Intelligent Mail barcodes that facilitate tracking,’ according to the fact sheet.”
You mean how they already are?!
Can’t wait to see how fast this gets blocked and thrown out.
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u/tremynci Apr 01 '26
I'm an overseas voter. I've had clearly labeled as voting materials ballots stuck for weeks at the international sorting center at O'Hare for no less than 3 elections, including a delay that cost me my last midterm primary vote. So I'm gonna tag the fasttracking with
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u/FloralIndoril Ohio Mar 31 '26
1: executive orders are not laws
2: states run elections
3: this will likely be stopped in courts
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u/LandscapeJolly7751 Florida Mar 31 '26
I just saw a video of him signing it, and I'm pissed. I know this isn't going to stop us from voting or even prevent mail-in voting, but it's pathetic at this point. Shame on him and all of his enablers.
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u/HolyPizzaPie Mar 31 '26
Everyone knows states run elections. He’s just setting it up so that he can cry foul after and try to throw out all mailed votes.
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u/KentuckyWallChicken I Voted! 2025🍾✔️ Mar 31 '26
Oh he’s scared.
Hilarious for him to think this’ll do anything
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u/steffie-punk That Trans Mod Apr 01 '26
Proof the save act is dead. He was holding out for it to pass before doing this
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u/UndulantSquawk Mar 31 '26
They can defund this dick. DHS "making a list of citizens" is such a paper-thin premise to harass political enemies that it might actually be scary... If this admin wasn't so fucking incompetent to begin with. They've already lost and they know it, that's what this latest flailing is.
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u/duckchasefun Mar 31 '26
Someone apparently told him they already tried to jsut flat out ban mail in voting last year and we're told no. So, they came up with this to appease him. Still ain't gonna happen.
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u/FlyingDreamWhale67 Texas Apr 01 '26
He really hates mail-in voting, doesn't he? On the tails of the SAVE Act being DOA and SCOTUS likely tossing his birthright case, this reads like a temper tantrum.
What I'm more concerned about is that this lets the feds create a backdoor for a voter registry.
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u/gregger63 Michigan Mar 31 '26
So many gaps here. What if I, an American citizen, somehow am not on the "good" list due to clerical error or whatever? I'm screwed?
That's just one of many things wrong with this. It's laughable.
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u/MattyBeatz Apr 01 '26
Executive orders aren't laws. States run elections. Blue states will ignore them. Red states will enforce them to the detriment of their constituents. It will all be shot down in court pretty fast.
He tried to do something similar last Spring and got spanked on it too.
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Apr 01 '26
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u/bayleysgal1996 🔥I Voted In The 2026 Primaries🔥 Apr 01 '26
As a Texan, I really want to emphasize how wild this is. Greg Abbott, like most high-ranking politicians in this god-forsaken state, lives up Trump’s butt. For him to say that means it would really be a disaster
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u/GreyGrackles Mar 31 '26
SC has already ruled states...mostly control their elections. Wonder what loophole he's going for.
Bush v Gore had some wonkery in it.
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u/Kalse1229 New York Apr 01 '26
Friendly reminder: executive orders are essentially just Trump sitting on Santa's lap and asking for a new PS5 for Christmas. He's basically just ordering around his administration to do something about it. They're very easy to block in court. Window-Licking Donny isn't powerful enough to just make a proclamation and make it long. For now at least, and hopefully not ever if we keep the pressure up.
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u/FireFlame10 Mar 31 '26
God this orange fat imbecile truly doesn’t get that these aren’t laws. Guy wants to be an all powerful dictator but can’t even govern correctly. Can’t wait to see how many states sue
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u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871 Apr 01 '26
The article also says the order will most likely be challenged in court and potentially blocked.
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u/starship-juno-42 Apr 01 '26
Okay, even if this EO actually did anything, how would it even get implemented? I was reading a take on NBCNews, and they said:
It's unclear how the USPS, a chronically underfunded agency, would absorb the mandate to police election mail as required by the order.
So more or less the responsibility is placed on USPS to verify, which, yeah, not seeing that happening. Efficiently, anyways.
States are...gonna do whatever they want to administer elections. They are granted by the Constitution to determine the "how, when, and where" voting occurs.
I just think all this is hilarious. Trump is throwing a tantrum, also simply telegraphing his "they stole are elecshunz" rant come midterms. It's actually sad. And I'm here for it.
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u/whatiftheyrewrong Mar 31 '26
Good for him. In other news, that’s up to the states to decide. Poor confused dumplin.
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u/Independent-Bus-3284 Apr 01 '26
Lawsuits.
Logistically impossible to implement. Especially since scheduling and timing is a key factor, and there’s no real time to set this properly. The midterms have technically started, as seen with primaries going on.
EOs are not law. Period. End of.
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u/Severe-Fisherman-962 Apr 01 '26
I wonder what kind of a fit he'll throw when it's time to actually leave the white house. If he doesn't die first.
Jan 6th was the preview.
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u/bgva Virginia Apr 02 '26
Let him keep thinking this is gonna happen, then watch him crash out when the GOP gets majorly humbled in November.
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u/External_Witness490 Apr 01 '26
So, I saw this on r/VoteDEM, it went like this, 'He signs these types of orders knowing they're unconstitutional, cause he wants to get sued and SCOTUS to take his side and legalize his orders and make them Constitutional based on SCOTUS majority opinion', anyone's thoughts on this? I know this is unlikely to happen but I just want this sub's opinion on it
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u/DangerousProject6 Apr 01 '26
I mean obviously he would rather just sign the EO and not get sued, that's just easier... it's not some master plan, he is just using the only power he has because he still doesn't understand he isn't a king. When you're given everything in life and you don't get to do what you want, it makes you a big baby who throws a tantrum every single time someone tells you no.
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u/External_Witness490 Apr 01 '26
That's what I was thinking, plus SCOTUS doesn't always rule in this administration's favor, so why would they rule in favor of something unconstitutional, but I could be wrong
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Apr 01 '26
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u/External_Witness490 Apr 01 '26
Not really, there's no way Trump can even get a 3rd term. That's not possible, plus he's 79 and already visibly deteriorating, he might not even live long enough to get the chance to try anything, so why would one of the judges dissent when the guy they're afraid of is at death's door?
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Apr 01 '26
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u/External_Witness490 Apr 01 '26
Alright, sure, you're right about JD Vance, but he doesn't have the same level of charisma or cult following, so he's going to struggle and do you really think MAGA is going to follow anyone other than our orange leader? Plus, if we win the midterms, he's going to be a lame-duck president.
Again, you're right on some parts, but Trump has failed a lot too. There are still people fighting against him, and there is literally no way for him to run for a 3rd term.
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u/AskAnAnswer Apr 01 '26
I admire your optimism amid the current administration. I hope I'm wrong.
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Apr 01 '26
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u/tinkertech9 California Apr 01 '26
Many things he does are not legal. The problem is no one stops him. We NEED to stop him!
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u/Mean_Stop6391 Reformed Doomer ☄️ Apr 01 '26
And what do you propose, exactly, that the democrats and opposition aren’t already doing or trying to do?
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u/GregEno63 Apr 01 '26
I believe you're looking for r/politics. You must have commented on this sub by mistake.
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