President Donald Trump faced criticism Wednesday from a major swing-state governor and potential Democratic presidential candidate who mocked the idea of eliminating mail-in balloting by fiat.
“Donald Trump can sign whatever the hell executive orders he wants to sign and make a show out of whatever he wants, but he can’t change the Constitution with an executive order,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a press conference.
“The Constitution gives the authority to set our election rules to the states.”
“Let me remind you that it was just about five years ago that a bipartisan majority in the House and in the Senate passed mail-in voting.
“And, [since] that time, millions of people have voted by mail,” Shapiro said. He was referring to Act 77 of 2019, which several Republicans supported but later accused Democrats and left-leaning judges of substantially altering.
Shapiro said Pennsylvania has had “free and fair” elections, and Trump has won and lost the state in contests throughout his political career.
“For him to try and put more misinformation out there, to stoke more division and fear amongst people who want to exercise their constitutional right to pick the leaders in their communities and in their commonwealth — that is just cynical and wrong.”
Shapiro stated that any Trump order would have “no bearing” on Keystone State elections, and he will support county election officials in all 67 counties in allowing mail-in voting.
Former Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, slammed the bipartisan mail-in-vote law that Shapiro mentioned, accusing Democrats and the popularly elected Pennsylvania Supreme Court of “diluting” it from its original purpose.
“Only one party [worked to] eliminate security safeguards and delay timelines for elections,” Cutler said in an LNP column. He added that the Democrat-controlled high bench “unconstitutionally acted to change the law for receiving and counting ballots [and] allowed for drop boxes … and stripped the security provisions for mail-in ballots.”
On Monday, Trump hinted at changes to the election system, promising to “lead a movement to get rid of mail-in ballots.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would sign an executive order to “help bring honesty to the 2026 midterm elections,” claiming that states are “merely agent[s]” of the federal government.
When asked for comment, the White House referred to remarks made by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during Thursday’s briefing.
“The White House continues to work on this, and when Congress comes back to Washington, I’m sure there will be many discussions with our friends on Capitol Hill and also our friends in state legislatures across the country to ensure that we’re protecting the integrity of the vote for the American people,” Leavitt told reporters.
“It’s mind-boggling that the Democrat Party would oppose common sense. He wishes to ensure election integrity. “There were significant efforts made in 2024,” she added.
