Colorado leaders criticized President Donald Trump’s new executive order issued Tuesday, arguing that its creation of a national voter‑eligibility list and new limits on mail voting violate states’ constitutional authority to run their own elections.

President Donald Trump has frequently criticized mail-in voting, calling it “mail-in cheating.” Through the SAVE Act in Congress, the president has sought to require voters to show an ID before casting a ballot. The measure, approved by the U.S. House, has stalled in the U.S. Senate.

“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It’s horrible what’s going on,” Trump said a news conference, repeating allegations about the security of mail ballots as he signed the order.

“I think this will help a lot with elections,” he added.

Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez called the order another attack on Americans’ access to the ballot but added she is confident it would not hold up in court.

“Elections are governed by state law, not presidential decree,” she said. “An executive order isn’t law. It can’t override Colorado’s constitutionally protected authority, and it won’t stop us from running secure, accessible, transparent elections for every eligible voter.”

Elections officials in Arizona and Oregon vowed to file a lawsuit to block the order, and officials in Colorado hinted the state may join the litigation.

“The White House, Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, and U.S. Postal Service have no business running elections,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. “The Constitution is clear that the states determine the time, place, and manner of elections. Nearly all Colorado voters — Democrats, Republicans, and Unaffiliated — use mail ballots in our elections. Colorado’s voting system is secure and fair, and we will take legal action to protect Colorado’s elections.”

Since Trump took office, Weiser’s office has filed more than 50 lawsuits against the administration.

Under Trump’s order, the U.S. Postal Service would be barred from sending absentee ballots to anyone not on the eligibility list.

The order also requires ballots to be placed in secure envelopes with unique barcodes for tracking.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick joined Trump during Tuesday’s news conference to announce the latest executive order. Lutnick said states using mail-in voting systems must use the United States Postal Service.

“The states run these elections – if they want to use the U.S. mail, the U.S. Postal Service, they’re going to get a code, a bar code, from the US Postal Service and they’re going to put that on the envelope and we will have one envelope per vote,” Lutnik said.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold called the order “undemocratic, unconstitutional, and dangerous.”

State Sen. Katie Wallace, D-Longmont, who is running an election bill this legislative session, said 98% of Coloradans who voted in the 2025 election voted by mail, including nearly 99% of Republican voters.

“We have gold standard elections and one of the highest voter turnout rates in the nation, and that’s in part because of us having continuously passed legislation to protect our Democratic process, fortify our elections, and expand voting through accessible efforts like mail-in ballots,” she said.

Trump’s executive order “just won’t work” with Colorado’s election system, she added.

“Not to mention that it’s the federal government compiling a slate of approved voters, which is just absolutely outside of the range of what they should be doing within our election system,” Wallace said.

Wallace is sponsoring House Bill 1113 alongside Sen. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Reps. Jenny Willford, D-Northglenn, and Emily Sirota, D-Denver. Among other election changes, the bill would prohibit polling centers from closing early and allow them to stay open longer if necessary.

The proposed legislation would also require the state to mail ballots earlier so voters have more time to return them if there are mail delays and to increase the presence of ballot boxes on college campuses.

States like Colorado are working to move up the mailing of ballots to voters after the U.S. Supreme Court seemed skeptical of allowing late-arriving ballots to be counted during recent oral arguments.

The state bill has already passed the Colorado House and is expected to be heard by the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee next week.

Wallace said amendments are currently being drafted in response to Trump’s executive order.

Seung Min Kim, Ali Swenson, Matt Brown, and Jonathan J. Cooper of the Associated Press contributed to this story.