U.S. President Trump: How to assess his latest Executive Order on U.S. Elections

Does Trump’s EO Bring the U.S. Electoral System Closer to European Models?

Short Answer: Not really.

While President Trump invokes Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Canada, and Brazil as examples of electoral integrity, his Executive Order only superficially aligns with some of their external features (like proof of identity or Election Day deadlines). Structurally and institutionally, the U.S. electoral system remains fundamentally different from most European models. Here’s why:

Structural Mismatch: Why the Systems Don’t Fully Align

• No National Voter Registry in the U.S.
  European countries like Germany or Sweden rely on automatic enrollment through population registries maintained by municipalities. The U.S. requires individuals to proactively register, often through 50 different systems with inconsistent rules.

• Highly Decentralized U.S. Election Management
  U.S. elections are run by 8,000+ local jurisdictions, while EU states centralize election oversight, enforce uniform ballot design, and mandate nonpartisan administration.

• Federal vs Parliamentary Context
  European democracies usually operate under parliamentary systems with proportional representation. The U.S. is a federal presidential system with first-past-the-post elections, altering the incentive structure and the impact of election integrity rules.

• Legal Safeguards and Privacy
  Many European countries have constitutional courts that tightly guard privacy and due process—requiring parliamentary legislation for major electoral changes, not just executive action. The Trump EO bypasses Congress, risking challenges under U.S. constitutional separation of powers.

Conclusion: European Rhetoric, American Execution

President Trump’s Executive Order mirrors the rhetoric and some procedural aspects of European systems (like proof of citizenship, paper ballots, mail-in limits), but fails to replicate the structural integrity, neutrality, and centralization that define European electoral frameworks.

So while it looks European on the surface, it does not function like a European system—either legally or institutionally.

U.S. White House Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Protects the Integrity of American Elections 

Washington DC, 25 March 2025

RESTORING TRUST IN AMERICAN ELECTIONS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to protect the integrity of American elections.

• This Order strengthens voter citizenship verification and bans foreign nationals from interfering in U.S. elections.
  • The Election Assistance Commission will require documentary, government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship on its voter registration forms.
  • Agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Social Security Administration and Department of State must provide states with access to Federal databases to verify eligibility and citizenship of individuals registering to vote.
  • The Attorney General will prioritize prosecuting non-citizen voting and related crimes, including through use of DHS records and coordination with state attorneys general.
• Federal election-related funds will be conditioned on states complying with the integrity measures set forth by Federal law, including the requirement that states use the national mail voter registration form that will now require proof of citizenship.
• The Order improves the integrity of elections by directing the updating of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 and security standards for voting equipment and prioritizing federal grant funds accordingly.
  • This includes requiring a voter-verifiable paper ballot record and not using ballots in which the counted vote is contained within a barcode or QR code.
• It directs the Attorney General to enter into information-sharing agreements with state election officials to identify cases of election fraud or other election law violations.
  • Non-compliant states may face prioritized Federal enforcement of election integrity laws and loss of funding given their unwillingness to police fraud.
• The Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security shall prevent non-citizens from any involvement in administering elections.
• The Attorney General will fully enforce the voter-list maintenance requirements of the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.
• Given clear Federal law setting a single Election Day deadline, the Attorney General shall take appropriate action against states that count ballots received after Election Day in Federal elections. Federal election funding will be conditioned on compliance.
• The Attorney General will prioritize enforcement of laws prohibiting foreign nationals from contributing to or donating in U.S. elections.
• All agencies must report on compliance with undoing Biden Executive Order 14019, which turned Federal agencies into Democratic voter turnout centers.

SAFEGUARDING THE VOTE: President Trump recognizes that free, fair, and honest elections—unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion—are essential to our Constitutional Republic.

• The United States lags behind other nations in enforcing basic and necessary election protections.
  • India and Brazil tie voter identification to a biometric database, while the United States largely relies on self-attestation for citizenship.
  • Germany and Canada require paper ballots when tabulating votes, while the United States has a patchwork of methods that often lack basic chain-of-custody protections.
  • Denmark and Sweden sensibly limit mail-in voting to those unable to vote in person—and late arrivals do not count—while American elections now feature mass voting by mail, even after Election Day.
• Without proper enforcement of Federal laws, illegal voting, discrimination, fraud, and other forms of malfeasance and error dilute the votes of lawful American citizens.
• Federal law establishes a uniform Election Day across the nation for Federal elections, but numerous states fail to comply with those laws by counting ballots received after Election Day.
• The Biden Administration blocked states from removing aliens from voter rolls, while foreign nationals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) exploited loopholes to pour millions into influencing U.S. elections.

MAKING ELECTIONS SECURE AGAIN: Voters deserve elections they can trust, and that confidence is being restored thanks to President Trump.

• President Trump is following through on his promise to secure our elections.
  • President Trump: “We’re going to fix our elections so that our elections are going to be honorable and honest and people leave and they know their vote is counted. We are going to have free and fair elections. And ideally, we go to paper ballots, same-day voting, proof of citizenship, very big, and voter ID, very simple.”
  • President Trump: “We will secure our elections, and they will be secure once and for all.”
• Unlike the Biden Administration, which prioritized political agendas over fair elections, President Trump is putting the American people back in charge.

Source – U.S. White House