After Trump Executive Order, Montco Leaders Say Right To Vote Will Be Protected

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County officials say that they will protect the rights of citizens to vote in upcoming elections following President Trump's executive order last week seeking to restrict mail-in voting.

The order would use federal databases to create national lists of approved absentee voters over the age of 18, and establishes rules for the Postal Service and to whom they can deliver mail-in ballots.

Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija, the county's elections chief, called the move unconstitutional.

"No matter what attempts are made to attack your right to vote, Montgomery County will protect the rights of every eligible citizen," Makhija said in a statement. "Mail-in voting remains a secure option to vote in our county. We will take every step to protect your constitutional right to vote."

Proponents of the measure say that it will make elections more secure and prevent fraud, specifically by preventing illegal immigrants from voting. Critics, which include figures on the right and states rights advocates, describe it as an attempt to nationalize elections that will disenfranchise legal voters by needlessly sowing doubt over mail-in voting.

Civil rights groups have already filed lawsuits to overturn the it. The NAACP says that it would impact 48 million voters.

"Mail in voting is so safe that even the president uses it when he votes," Virginia Kase Solomón, Common Cause President and CEO, said in a statement. This is yet another attempt by President Trump to nationalize elections so he can pick and choose who gets to vote."

If the order stands, it would radically overhaul how counties and states operate elections. The order would mandate the Postal Service to provide each state with a list of individuals "enrolled" in the USPS system. They would only be permitted to deliver ballots to individuals on this national list.

As it currently stands, counties and states send mail-ins to individuals who request the ballots who are also registered to vote. That "list" is really just a database of registered voters maintained by county and state elections officials.