• Advocates believe that millions will be ordered to be deprived of their rights.
• The White House said it has tried to prevent foreign interference.
• New executive orders could pose legal challenges.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to require voters to prove they are U.S. citizens and try to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots received after election day.

The comprehensive order will also seek to take federal funds away from states that do not comply.

Trump has long questioned the U.S. election system and continues to falsely claim that his 2020 losses to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud. The president and his Republican allies have also made baseless claims about the widespread vote of non-citizens, which is illegal and rarely happens.

Last year, the Republican-controlled House approved a bill that would prohibit non-citizens from registering for voting in federal elections, an approach that is already illegal. It did not pass the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.

The White House order is designed to achieve similar goals. Voting rights groups believe that, like the U.S. Guarantee of American Voters Act that has not become law, voters who will deprive voters, especially people of color, cannot obtain passports or other necessary proof of identity.

“We have to straighten the election,” Trump said Tuesday when signing the order at the White House. “This country is very disgusting because of elections, fake elections and bad elections, and we will straighten it in one way or another.”

The order may present a legal challenge.

“It is a blatant attack on democracy and a robbery of authoritarian power,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the advocacy group citizens.

Republicans have tried to put more restrictions on voting in recent years, while Democrats have tried to make voting easier by supporting mail-in voting access and early voting opportunities.

Citizens noted that about 146 million Americans do not have passports, and a study by the Brennan Center shows that 9% of U.S. citizens are eligible to vote or 21.3 million people, and there is no evidence of citizenship “ready available.”

Under U.S. law, the passport may be unilaterally cancelled if the U.S. Secretary of State determines that a passport is “illegal, fraudulent, or wrongly obtained” or created by illegal or fraudulent.

The White House argues that Trump’s orders will prevent foreign nationals from interfering in the U.S. election. Voters will be asked for the first time about citizenship on the federal voting table under the new directive.

“Funds related to federal elections will be conditioned on states that meet the integrity measures stipulated by federal law, including the state’s requirement to use the state’s national mail voter registration form, and now requires proof of citizenship,” the White House said to the order.

The order criticizes the policy, allowing mail-in ballots to arrive and count after Election Day. The order said Trump’s policy is “requiring votes and receipts on election dates prescribed by law.”

According to the National Legislature Conference, 18 states, as well as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C., ballots mailed by Election Day or before Election Day will be calculated, whenever they arrive.

Trump’s order also requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to ensure that states have access to systems that verify the citizenship or immigration status of registered voters.

It also directs administrators of the Department of Homeland Security and Elon Musk-Mun’s government efficiency department to review the state’s voter registration list and, if necessary, use subpoenas to ensure they meet federal requirements.

The Republican National Committee said Tuesday it had requested public records from 48 states and Washington, D.C. to check how they maintain voter registration lists.

“Voters have the right to know that their state is properly maintaining voter lists and act quickly to eliminate unqualified voters to clean up voter registrations,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement.