North Pima News

Arizona State Representative Rachel Keshel has expressed her support for President Donald J. Trump's recent Executive Order titled "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections." The order, issued on March 25th, aims to ensure that elections are transparent and verifiable.

Representative Keshel said, "This Executive Order is exactly what this country needs. It puts Americans — not machines, not foreign influence, not barcode algorithms — back in charge of their elections." She emphasized the importance of votes being visible and countable by humans rather than relying on digital codes.

The order mandates the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to implement the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 (VVSG 2.0). Once these standards are in place, current electronic voting systems will no longer comply, affecting states like Arizona that use barcode-based vote counting.

In Arizona, voters hand-mark paper ballots which are then scanned and converted into digital codes read by machines. Keshel criticized this system saying, "This system is a slap in the face to every voter in Arizona who thinks their ballot speaks for them."

Keshel urged immediate action for the state to prepare for hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots by 2026. She called for ending funding for non-compliant systems and allowing counties to become "paper ballot counties."

President Trump's order highlights the constitutional role of states in elections while enforcing federal standards on national security and citizenship verification. Keshel noted strong federal legislative support from U.S. Representatives Chip Roy and Pete Sessions with their respective acts promoting secure election practices.

"This isn’t complicated," said Keshel. "We need elections that every voter can understand, witness, and trust."

Rachel Keshel represents Legislative District 17 in Arizona's House of Representatives.

Information from this article can be found here.