Our Voices Were Heard: President Trump’s Executive Order 14248 and the Future of the Election Integrity Movement
- 14 hours ago
- 6 min read
By Frederick Woodward
April 21, 2025
On March 25, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14248, his 116th executive order since taking office and one of his most significant. For election integrity advocates — grassroots volunteers, legal professionals, and organizations Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI) — EO 14248 was a landmark victory. The comprehensive document reads like a wish list of conservative election integrity measures, years in the making, lifting a heavy burden from the shoulders of those who fought for reform.
The journey to this moment was arduous, marked by setbacks, bureaucratic inertia, and countless obstacles. Yet stories of individual courage defined a movement once dismissed as fringe by many political leaders. For MFEI and its partners, the path to EO 14248 was winding but resolute. Below is a timeline of key milestones.
January 30, 2024 | After receiving reports alleging mismanagement of federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grants, MFEI conducted a six-month review of Michigan’s use of $57.6 million in funds from 2015 to 2022. Concluding that serious deviations from federal law had occurred, MFEI submitted a 61-page report to the Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) and its Office of Inspector General (OIG), accompanied by over 400 pages of evidentiary exhibits, a detailed summary letter, and a one-page overview. |
March 8, 2024 | To ensure the EAC OIG’s peer review agency received MFEI’s report, MFEI sent a letter to the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) OIG, expressing concerns that EAC OIG audits might not comply with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). This followed confirmation that a peer review of EAC OIG audits was scheduled for March 31, 2024. The FCA OIG responded, noting it lacked jurisdiction over HAVA compliance but would remain vigilant during its audit, suggesting MFEI contact the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section or Michigan’s election office. |
August 15, 2024 | The EAC OIG released its Michigan audit report (G23MI0031-24-13), citing minimal issues and ignoring MFEI’s concerns. MFEI promptly filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the audit workpapers, a process still ongoing. |
September 6, 2024 | The FCA OIG issued a System Review Report of the EAC OIG, finding no exceptions (Peer-Review-Report-EAC-OIG-Audit.pdf). |
November 15, 2024 | Facing federal agency inaction, MFEI partnered with Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network (EIN), which sought state-level reform recommendations. MFEI produced Title 52 Reform Recommendations, a comprehensive document shared with policymakers across party lines. |
November 28, 2024 | |
February 14, 2025 | MFEI submitted a FOIA request for the Michigan audit workpapers, prepared by the EAC OIG and Brown and Company. The EAC confirmed receipt. |
March 8, 2025 | MFEI requested an estimated delivery timeline for the workpapers. The EAC responded that fulfillment could take until March 2026 due to a backlog. |
March 11, 2025 | MFEI replied, requesting a specific timeline. The EAC reiterated the year-long delay. |
March 18, 2025 | MFEI submitted a “Response to EAC’s March 2026 Delivery Estimate, Renewed Request for Expedited Processing, and Demand for Faster Timeline,” arguing that a year-long delay violated FOIA’s timely transparency mandate. Citing legal precedents and federal auditing standards, MFEI requested a revised delivery date of May 15, 2025, expedited processing, backlog details, and interim record releases. |
March 31, 2025 | MFEI submitted a “Renewed Request for Expedited Processing,” narrowing the FOIA request’s scope. |
April 3, 2025 | The EAC suggested MFEI could expedite fulfillment by specifying desired workpapers. |
April 4, 2025 | MFEI clarified the request, identifying specific workpapers. |
April 9, 2025 | The EAC denied expedited processing but committed to a final response by May 15, 2025. |
January 7, 2025 – Present | MFEI submitted a summary of concerns and recommendations to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), updating it with ongoing research findings. |
EO 14248 incorporated approximately 80% of MFEI’s Title 52 Reform Recommendations, including measures to verify voter citizenship, audit voter rolls, and adopt a Sarbanes-Oxley-style enforcement approach. Notably, 96% of MFEI’s UOCAVA reform proposals — such as amending the Federal Post Card Application — were adopted, a significant achievement given MFEI’s — and a handful of other organizations’ — advocacy in this area.
The road to free and fair elections remains long. Since March 31, 2025, the Democratic Party and 19 states have sued to block EO 14248, with more legal challenges likely. Activist judges may halt parts of the order, but its codification as a presidential directive is a triumph for the election integrity movement. Though Congressional action beyond the SAVE Act is needed to solidify many of these reforms, the majority are already specified under current law but mostly have been ignored.
As Justice Louis Brandeis famously said in 1913, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” EO 14248 has illuminated the path forward, exposing government waste and overreach. With motivated leaders in place, the election integrity movement is poised to act.
Now is the time to make sure current laws are enforced and necessary new laws are enacted.
Let’s get to work.
Frederick Woodward serves as a Legal Analyst for the Michigan Fair Elections Institute, Director of Research and Investigations for Politylitics, and a Fellow at the Albertus Magnus Institute. He is a Senior Contributor at New Guard Press, and his writing has appeared in The Federalist, the Lamp, the Daily Signal, and many other outlets.
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