Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs slams Trump's executive order to curb mail in ballots

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs criticized President Donald Trump's latest move, which he claims would curb voters' rights, claiming that the President has overstepped his authority. On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order that directs federal agents to compile a list of eligible voters and limit mail-in ballots. Reacting to the order, Hobbs released a statement noting that voter fraud was incredibly rare in his state and he will take any step that's necessary to protect Washington's elections. 

Trump's executive order directs the Homeland Security Department to work with the Social Security Administration and create an approved list of absentee voters. This list will then be shared with the U.S. Postal Service, which will send out mail-in ballots to only those on the list. The move, reminiscent of the SAVE America Act, comes as midterm elections approach this November, and while Republicans claim that the effort is necessary to curb rampant voter fraud, Democrats have slammed it, arguing it would disenfranchise millions of eligible American voters. Many, including Hobbs, questioned Trump's authority, threatening to take legal action against the order. "The President has no authority over elections; the United States Constitution grants that authority exclusively to states and Congress," Secretary Hobbs wrote in his statement. 

Hobbs argued that vote-by-mail elections have been secure and accurate for decades, and they have helped remove barriers to citizens who want to participate in the rightful democratic process. He claimed that voter fraud is incredibly rare, which makes the crackdown baseless. "There have been just 15 cases of noncitizen voting in Washington between 1982 and 2025, or 0.000006% of ballots cast. When issues do occur, our system is designed to identify and resolve them swiftly," Hobbs wrote. 

According to the States United Democracy Center, about a third of Americans voted by mail in 2024, with people of all demographics in rural, suburban, and urban areas voting by mail. However, Republicans have long claimed that mail-in voting has encouraged voter fraud and put the security of U.S. elections at risk. But a report from the Brookings Institution found that cases of voter fraud account for just 0.000043% of total mail ballots cast, which roughly amounts to four cases out of every 10 million votes.

Thus, Hobbs vowed to protect the voters' rights in his state and improve access to elections. "Washington continues to improve voter access while maintaining the integrity of our elections. Elected officials should be doing everything to protect the constitutional rights of Washington voters, not making it harder," he concluded in his statement. Similar statements were issued by other Democratic leaders, with some threatening legal action to stop the order. "While Trump says mail ballots are illegitimate, he has voted by mail ballot for years. The Constitution is clear: states oversee elections, not Trump. We look forward to this unconstitutional overreach being stopped in court," Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement. 

A similar executive order that sought to boost proof of citizenship for voting was blocked by multiple courts, who ruled that the Constitution did not give the president the authority to regulate some aspects of the federal elections. While Trump claimed his latest order can't be blocked, David Becker, a former Justice Department lawyer, told CNN that it is expected to meet the same fate as last year's move.