Arizona voting rights advocates are resisting President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service not to deliver mail-in ballots to residents if a state refuses to send its voter rolls to Washington.
The Trump administration said the order is part of an effort to ensure voting integrity. In Arizona, 84% of voters cast their ballots by mail in the 2024 presidential election.
Adrian Fontes, Arizona's Secretary of State, called any attempt to hinder mail voting unconstitutional and described it as an effort by the Trump administration to manipulate elections.
“It’s the administration’s attempt to pick their own voters,” Fontes contended. “They don’t want their voters to be disabled veterans or older folks. They don’t want their voters to be from rural Arizona. This is a time-tested method by which Arizonans vote. We like it this way.”
The mail-in ballot executive order comes amid Trump’s efforts to make sweeping changes to how elections are handled. He has also supported efforts to require new citizenship verification for voter registration. The president has said he is trying to safeguard the integrity of the election system.
Brian Lemek, founder and executive director of the group Defend the Vote, said any attempt to suppress voting, including mail-in balloting, could have major effects in Arizona because of the state’s vast geography, population and hostile climate.
“The heat is one issue, but just massive, massive populations that are out in these rural areas and in these Indigenous communities will also be disproportionately impacted by any sort of further restrictions here,” Lemek emphasized.
Fontes added the state is considering its legal options to stop the executive order from taking effect in Arizona.
Voter information requirement could hinder Arizona mail-in ballots was first published by PNS and republished with permission.
Mark Moran is a producer with Public News Service.
