Why Trump can’t just decree changes to voting by mail – a former federal judge explains how the president’s executive order is ‘a solution looking for a problem’

The US Constitution gives states control of elections. An executive order by President Trump aims to take away that control. A former federal judge says a president can’t just deny the Constitution.

By: John E. Jones III, Dickinson College, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: April 22, 2026

Words: 1,356

Last Updated: 3 months, 1 week ago

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By John E. Jones III, Dickinson College

John Jones knows about voter suppression. Currently the president of Dickinson College, Jones – nominated in 2002 by President George W. Bush and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate – served for almost two decades as a federal court judge. In that role, Jones presided over a case, filed just prior to the November 2020 presidential election, in which a conservative legal foundation sued Pennsylvania’s top election …

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