JACKSON — An executive order signed Tuesday by President Trump mirrored a new Wyoming law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

Wyoming became the first in the nation to require proof of citizenship after Gov. Mark Gordon let House Bill 156 become law without his signature. Gordon expressed concerns about the additional 30-day residency requirement that will impact potential voters in the 2026 election. But Secretary of State Chuck Gray applauded the alignment of the White House and Wyoming on “election integrity” priorities, such as HB 156, on Tuesday in a statement.

“I want to express my full support,” Gray said hours after the executive order was signed. “In the 2025 general session, we began carrying out these priorities by working to pass bills requiring proof of citizenship to vote for all races, prohibiting foreign funding of ballot measures and strengthening Wyoming’s voter list maintenance procedures.”

Trump’s directive will require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship on federal voter registration forms, bar foreign nationals from donating in U.S. elections, and require that mail ballots be received by Election Day to be counted. Gray said it would also enhance “voter list maintenance procedures and other key priorities of President Trump.”

“This executive order is an extremely important moment for election integrity,” he said.

Gray touted three Wyoming bills that became law and one that failed as being key priorities of his: HB 156; House Bill 337, banning foreign funding of elections; and House Bill 318, maintenance of voter lists, were signed into law. A bill requiring the use of pen and paper ballots as the default method for elections failed to make it out of the Senate.

While the Secretary of State’s Office expressed enthusiasm for the president’s action, others question whether the order will stick.

“Wyoming FREE believes in making it easier to vote and harder to cheat — but this executive order does neither,” Rebekah Fitzgerald, executive director of Wyoming FREE, a nonpartisan nonprofit pushing for “fair, reliable and ethical elections,” said in a statement Thursday.

“When election rules change constantly and come from Washington instead of the communities closest to the people, it creates confusion, weakens trust and risks disenfranchising voters.

“Wyoming needs durable, locally driven solutions — not sweeping federal mandates that destabilize the system and undermine our election integrity.”