Just for the record, Trump can’t do this. The Constitution is very clear that the “times, places, and manner“ of elections for federal office are determined by individual states (though can be altered by Congress).

The president simply has no role in US elections (except to sign into law or veto whatever election-related bills that congress might pass).

And this is not some borderline edge case. It’s addressed directly in Article I of the Constitution. See https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript for this and other fun facts about how our government is organized.
Now, Congress might well be able to legislate some or all of the things in Trump’s putative elections order. And the current Congress has been generally compliant with Trump’s legislative wishes, so it’s not out of the question that they might advance a bill with provisions along these lines, or that some state legislatures might do the same. But no executive order can require them to do so. It’s meaningless.
Also, “Executive Orders” are not laws. They’re orders to the executive branch of the federal government. If you don’t work for the executive branch of the federal government (say, for example, you’re a state election official), presidential executive orders don’t apply to you.
It's also worth noting that the measures he calls for - voter ID, no vote-by-mail, etc - are nothing new. He and others have long advocated for them, and some states already implement versions of them. So everything in this "order", which has all the legal force of a "suggestion", is also old news.

Finally, the federal government has no role in actually running US elections. States do that (usually via counties). So there is no one subject to this order in a position to follow it.

There are plenty of things to worry about with Trump. The legitimate power of the presidency is already vast, and he constantly pushes at its edges to abuse the office further still. But this “order” is just empty blather on his part, not something that he has any ability to actually implement or require.

This thread brought to you by someone who researches and teaches election stuff at a still-somewhat-reputable school.
@mattblaze I (think I) understand why you make this analysis, but a strictly legalistic analysis, although important, isn’t sufficient at a stage where both law and facts are considered optional and where “pound the table” has largely replaced them.
@ahltorp The reason I posted my thread was to add context to a current event that touched upon an area of my expertise. I apologize if you found it lacking. Hopefully you can find a source of analysis and information elsewhere that better suits your needs.

@mattblaze I see a lot of people that say “this person can do this”, and “this person can’t do that”, referring to legality. You are far from the first, society and Mastodon are full of them.

As I wrote, I understand the reason for making this type of naive analysis, but it also perpetuates myths of how power works in society, and people are probably better off studying Foucault or Mbembe than the law at this stage. Sorry if this offends you.

@ahltorp Again, I apologize if you found my analysis insufficiently broad. However, I think you have also mischaracterized it.

Again, my best advice is to find posters to follow who better serve your needs.

I am sorry that I am unable to be of further assistance.

@mattblaze @ahltorp Why are they so opposed to mail-in ballots?

Here in Australia, they send me a mailing ballot application 'just in case' and I barely need a reason to use it. They go out of their way to make it easy to vote. I can vote at a booth for a week ahead of time, and there's absentee booths in every town if I'm travelling and have forgotten to mail ballot.

@bluetea Because “the wrong people” are more likely to vote if it’s easier. Voter suppression is a very important part of the American voting system. Voter participation is actively kept low using this and other methods, like employers threatening to fire people if they go vote on election day.

(In Sweden we have a similar system to yours)

@ahltorp that's so incredibly anti-democratic. I wonder if I take my right to vote too lightly.
@ahltorp @bluetea Australia makes voting mandatory, and provides a multitude of ways to comply. The USA is not longer (if it ever was) a representative democracy

@bluetea @mattblaze @ahltorp Historically in the US (although this seems less true of Trump specifically), Republicans are more steady voters and Democrats less so but more of them. So low turnout elections favor R and high turnout favors D.

Thus, anything that makes voting harder tends to help the R party.

Things must be a lot different in Australia, as I understand everyone has to vote? So you don't have turnout biases like this, probably.

@gregtitus @mattblaze @ahltorp yes, in Australia it's a right and indeed an obligation for anyone with citizenship. You can just deface or deposit a blank ballot slip if you do not wish to vote, but you are obliged to at least show up. And it's always on a Saturday, (I dont know but expect employers would be required to allow you time to go vote. Booths are many and well staffed so it only takes 10 minutes, and there's often a cake stall or barbeque. (see: 'democracy sausage').
@gregtitus @mattblaze @ahltorp interesting info re the bias on turnout. I wonder if making it harder for the elderly may bite them.

@bluetea @mattblaze @ahltorp That's a good question. Certainly before Biden, trunp placed a loyalist in power over the post office, and he then destroyed it - literally bricking the sorting machines, for example - and Biden didn't replace him, and instead DeJoy waited until trunp was back in power to resign suddenly (fell or pushed?) in March.
My theory is that trunp knows Elno isn't to be trusted now since they fell out, so he can't rely on the e-voting machines any more, so he's "banning" them. Better to get postal votes banned too, because he's railed against those for forever as too ~~hard~~easy to corrupt. Better to go with the easier voter suppression of closing down every way for black people to get an ID, and make them wait 12 hours to present it to vote, which they could sidestep with a postal ballot.

Sorry, too much?

@Dss @mattblaze @ahltorp bizarre that the Biden government didn't address the sorting machines and other mechanisms. There's some weird dysfunctional shit across the whole top echelon of American politics and administration.
@bluetea @Dss @ahltorp Although that definitely seemed dodgy at the time, it appears to have had no actual impact on mailed ballots (and, in retrospect, likely wasn't an attempt to sabotage the vote).

@bluetea @mattblaze @ahltorp

They are deliberately attempting to make it more difficult to vote.

More specifically, the Republicans want to make it more difficult for people who don't have full time 9-5 Monday - Friday jobs with leave entitlements. So, those people are more likely to be young, non-white, and/or poor, elderly, chronically ill/disabled. So the people who can't queue for a whole day on a Tuesday to vote.

They are attempting to hold back the inevitable demographic changes that mean their voting base are becoming a minority. Rather than change their policies to appeal to the shifting population demographics (see our Liberal/National Coalition parties), they're attempting to rig elections to win Govt.

Ironically, the largest demographic who use mail-in ballots, vote Republican ie elderly etc.

@mattblaze well, He did mention Foucault, which is of course the magic code word that shows he "knows stuff." I wouldn't answer him because then he's going to start talking about semiotics, and you don't want any of that.
@carlmalamud I think he was very clear that he came into this confident in the knowledge that he knows more about this subject than I do, which makes me wonder why he was spending his valuable time reading my posts in the first place.
@mattblaze Well, if he has read Foucault, he's a better man than you and I. I have also heard of but not read Proust, so he's probably got us on that as well.
@carlmalamud Always take time to stop and smell the madelines.
@carlmalamud @mattblaze
I always wonder if those guys are cranks, part of a disinformation campaign, or both.

@carlmalamud @mattblaze He would have been better off referencing Dr. Arnim Zola.
"The legality of the plan is of no consequence."
"And why is that?"
"Because he can do it!"

(Edit to emphasize that Zola was wrong, he couldn't do it.)