CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – A new executive order filed by President Donald Trump could have a heavy effect on voters who cast their ballots by mail.
The order requires all mail-in ballots to be cast and received by election day.
Virginia is one of 18 states that currently allows votes to be counted past that deadline. Ballots in the Commonwealth must be received before noon on the third day after the election if postmarked by Election Day.
During the 2024 Presidential Election, the Charlottesville voter registrar counted a total of 2923 mail-in ballots, including 105 post-election ballots received.
Already, voting right groups are condemning Trump’s action and calling it unconstitutional.
“The result of this would be to likely disenfranchise millions of people across the country, many thousands in Virginia,” ACLU of Virginia Policy Director Chris Kaiser said. “And I want to be clear, we are talking about only those voters who have done their diligence to fill out their ballot before election day. These are not people who are trying to vote late.”
The Trump administration, on the other hand, claims many officials are currently accepting ballots without postmarks after election day.
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