Welcome to the Friday, March 28, 2025, Brew.
By: Lara Bonatesta
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Trump issues election policy executive order and a look at similar state laws
- A comprehensive look at 189 years of ballot measures in North Carolina
- Did you know 35 states require voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day?
Trump issues election policy executive order and a look at similar state laws
On March 25, President Donald Trump (R) issued the 101st executive order of his second term titled, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.” The order includes changes to federal election administration guidance and procedures for things like voter registration, absentee/mail-in voting, ballot counting, and election equipment.
In response to the order, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) said, “Trump’s executive order is unlawful. It would prevent eligible Americans from exercising their sacred right to vote. The Trump administration is weaponizing the federal government and trying to make it harder for voters to fight back at the ballot box.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) said, “This is a great first step for election integrity reforms.”
Key provisions of the order, the sections of the order where they are addressed, and how they relate to state laws are below.
Documentary proof of citizenship and noncitizen list maintenance (Secs. 2 & 3)
The order directs the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to, within 30 days of the order, require documentary proof of citizenship on the national mail voter registration form and develop a method for state or local officials to record the type of document that the voter provides.
The EAC is the independent commission responsible for developing election administration guidance for compliance with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 and other federal voting laws,
The order also includes new requirements for federal agencies to share information with state and local officials about the immigration status of registered voters or voter registration applicants, including by granting access to databases and resources such as the Social Security Number Verification Service and the Death Master File.
It also requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to deliver a report to the Attorney General within 90 days that identifies all noncitizens “who have indicated on any immigration form that they have registered or voted in a Federal, State, or local election” and to submit the information to the relevant state and local officials for review.
Every state requires applicants to provide either documentary proof of citizenship or to attest under penalty of perjury or other sanctions that they are citizens. In 2024, two states with a Republican trifecta — Louisiana and New Hampshire — adopted laws requiring voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Four other states—Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, and Georgia—have some kind of documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement in state law. Only Arizona and New Hampshire’s laws are in effect. Federal courts have limited enforcement of these requirements for federal elections.
Other bills this year — including in Oklahoma and Idaho — would implement reviews of registered voters’ citizenship status or require election officials to use new data sources to verify that noncitizens are not registered to vote.
Receipt of absentee/mail-in ballots by Election Day (Sec. 7)
The order directs the Attorney General to interpret and enforce U.S. code as requiring all ballots counted for federal elections to be received by Election Day, and would condition federal funding for election administration on state’s compliance with this provision.
As of March 2025, 18 states have laws allowing election officials to count at least some ballots postmarked by Election Day but received after.
Kansas lawmakers have most recently dealt with the issue of absentee/mail-in ballot grace periods, or time periods after Election Day within which received ballots are still counted. On March 25, the Legislature overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s (D) veto of SB 4.
As we mentioned in our Feb. 18 edition of The Daily Brew, SB 4 requires voters to return absentee ballots by 7 p.m. on Election Day. The law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
Currently, in Kansas — under a law adopted in 2017 with bipartisan support — ballots are valid if they are postmarked by Election Day and received within three days of Election Day.
The Kansas Senate voted 30-10 to override Kelly’s veto, and the House voted 84-41 to override it. All Republicans but one in the Senate and four in the House voted to override the veto, while all Democrats voted not to.
Kansas is one of two states — the other being Kentucky — where one party has a veto-proof majority in the legislature, and the other holds the governor’s office. Both states have Republican-controlled legislatures and Democratic governors.
Eliminating barcodes and QR codes for ballot counting (Sec. 4)
The order requires the EAC to amend the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG) 2.0 to eliminate guidance related to voting equipment and ballots that rely on barcodes or QR codes for tabulation. The order directs federal departments to condition election-related funding based on compliance with the amended guidance.
VVSGs are used to test and certify voting systems and equipment for several factors, including “basic functionality, accessibility, and security capabilities.” Federal law does not require voting equipment to comply with Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, though some states legally require such compliance.
The order requires the EAC to review and re-certify voting equipment affected by the amended guidance within 180 days.
Other provisions – Election crime enforcement (Sec. 5), review of electronic systems (Sec. 6), and foreign contributions and the use of federal funds (Sec. 8)
The order also includes guidance and requirements related to several other aspects of elections. It requires coordination between federal and state officials to identify crimes related to elections, such as instances of ineligible voters casting a ballot, individuals who are registered multiple times, or threats made against election officials. The order directs the Attorney General to prioritize enforcement of federal voting laws in states that do not enter into information-sharing or cooperation agreements with federal authorities.
It also requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to report on the security of all electronic voting and voter registration systems, and directs the Attorney General to prioritize enforcement of laws that “prevent foreign nationals from contributing or donating in United States elections” and prohibit “lobbying by organizations or entities that have received any Federal funds.”
Click here to read the executive order and here to read more about election-related legislation in 2025.
A comprehensive look at 189 years of ballot measures in North Carolina
Ballotpedia’s Historical Ballot Measure Factbook will document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the United States. This ongoing research effort will provide an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and the public on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they have covered, and their role in our civic life.
We’ve previously covered eight states:
Today, let’s look at historical ballot measures in North Carolina. Our comprehensive inventory of North Carolina ballot measures spans from 1835, when the first statewide measure appeared on the ballot, to 2024.
In that time, North Carolinians decided on 202 measures, approving 147 and defeating 55 – a 72.8% approval rate.
Here’s how that compares to the other states we’ve published summary content on so far:
Between the 1830s and 2020s, North Carolinians decided on an average of more than 10 measures in each decade.
North Carolina ballot measures addressed 48 unique topics, with some addressing multiple topics in one measure.
Here is a selection of important and interesting measures from the North Carolina Factbook:
- North Carolina adopted its first constitution in 1776 and became the 12th state in 1789 after ratifying the U.S. Constitution. In 1835, voters approved the state’s first ballot measure, calling for a constitutional convention. The state adopted its second constitution later the same year. The second constitution eliminated suffrage for free Black residents, made the governor an elected position with a two-year term, equalized the capitation tax on slaves and free white males, and provided methods for amending the constitution.
- In 1857, voters approved a constitutional amendment removing the 50-acre land ownership requirement for voting in state senate elections, allowing all white male taxpayers to vote.
- In 1876, voters approved a single ballot measure that included 30 constitutional amendments, including amendments to:
- Prohibit interracial marriages
- Require school segregation between “children of the white race and children of the colored race”
- Remove the right to vote for persons convicted of felonies or infamous crimes
- Reduce the Supreme Court from five to three justices
- Prohibit secret political societies
- Establish a Department of Agriculture.
- In 1900, voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring individuals to “read and write any section of the Constitution in English” to register to vote and imposing a poll tax as a voting requirement. Males eligible to vote on Jan. 1, 1867, or whose direct ancestors were eligible that year, were exempted from the requirements.
- Voters repealed the poll tax as a voting requirement in 1920.
- In 1970, voters rejected a proposal to repeal the literacy requirement, which the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 had rendered inoperative. The provision remains in the state constitution as Section 4 of Article VI.
- North Carolina was the last state to give the governor veto powers, with a constitutional amendment approved in 1996.
- In 1920, voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow for an income tax, with the rate capped at 6%. In 1936, voters approved an amendment increasing the cap to 10%. In 2018, voters approved a ballot measure reducing the cap to 7%.
Click here to see our full factbook for North Carolina.
Did you know 35 states require voters to present identification to vote at the polls on Election Day?
Of the 35 states:
- Twenty-three required voters to present identification containing a photograph, with certain exceptions.
- Twelve states did not explicitly require photo identification.
The remaining 15 states did not require voters to present identification to vote at the polls on Election Day.
Click here to learn more about voter identification requirements across the 50 states.