JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway stood by her decision to protect President Donald Trump’s executive order that would allow more federal oversight of elections.
Hanaway, along with 11 other Republican state attorney generals, are intervening in lawsuits challenging the legality of the order.
The executive order in question would allow the federal government to compile lists of legal voters and would charge the U.S. Postmaster General with establishing rules to block mail-in ballots from being delivered to people who aren’t on pre-approved lists. Several Democrat-led states have sued to block this order.
Hanaway, along with attorneys general from Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas filed a motion to intervene in the suit earlier this week in an attempt to protect Trump’s executive order.
Trump has repeatedly called for federal takeovers of elections and advocated for people to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to be able to vote. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down such requirements in 2020 in the case Fish v. Schwab.
In an exclusive interview with KOMU 8 on Thursday afternoon, Hanaway said Trump’s executive order adds necessary, extra provisions to ensure only eligible voters cast ballots in elections.
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“I really stand for the principle that every vote should count,” she said. “Every legal vote should count. But, we want to make sure we don’t dilute them, those legal votes, with anyone who shouldn’t be voting.”
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Missouri or across the country in recent elections.
Democrats suing over the executive order claim Trump’s mandate that the post office establish rules over mail-in ballots is unconstitutional. Article 1, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution grants the power to hold elections to the states, while also giving Congress some authority to change election rules.
This executive order, issued by the President, gives direct election rulemaking powers to the U.S. Postal Service.
“When was the last time Congress was able to agree on any kind of voting measure?” Hanaway said when defending the USPS’ role in Trump’s executive order. “I mean, I think that’s the big barrier to getting Congress to do it. And, states don’t control the post office.”
