AMN / WEB DESK
U.S. President Donald Trump has referenced India and Brazil in his executive order to reform the American election system. The order highlights that India and Brazil link voter identification to biometric databases, whereas the U.S. relies on self-attestation for citizenship. It also praises Germany and Canada for using paper ballots counted publicly, reducing disputes. Trump further cited Denmark and Sweden’s strict mail-in voting policies, contrasting them with mass mail-in voting in the U.S., where ballots are often accepted without postmarks or after Election Day. The move aims to address perceived election integrity issues in America.
It is worth mentioning that the Election Commission of India is exploring linking voter cards with Aadhaar, which includes a biometric database.
Key aspects of the new executive order
Proof of Citizenship Requirement:
To prevent non-Americans from voting in a federal election – an act that is already illegal and punishable by prison time and deportation – the order requires voters to submit official proof of US citizenship, such as a US passport or a birth certificate.
Federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, will be required to share data to help state officials identify non-citizens on voter rolls. However, voting rights groups have raised concerns that the citizenship requirements could lead to voter disenfranchisement.
“This would prevent only a tiny amount of noncitizen voter registration but stop millions of eligible voters, who do not have easy access to documents such as passports, from registering to vote,” Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a blog post.
There are also concerns that married women who have changed their last names may face difficulties registering to vote, as their birth certificates reflect their maiden names.
The advocacy group Public Citizen pointed out that roughly 146 million Americans do not have a passport.