Arizona State Representative Rachel Keshel has publicly hailed President Donald Trump's move to overhaul the country's election systems. In a recent executive order dated March 25, Trump aimed to implement new standards that could shift how votes are tallied, targeting particularly the use of barcodes and electronic voting systems.
"This Executive Order is exactly what this country needs," Keshel stated, as reported by her press release, she argues that every vote should be "visible, verifiable, and countable by human beings — full stop." The directive focuses on the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 (VVSG 2.0), a set of provisions that, when enforced, will make many currently used electronic voting systems noncompliant. This will require states like Arizona, which rely on barcode-based systems, to reconsider their approach.
Arizona currently holds elections where voters complete paper ballots, but instead of counting the selections directly, they are scanned, digitized, and processed by machines. Keshel criticizes this approach, stating in her press release, "What good is a hand-marked ballot if a machine replaces it with a code we can’t even read?" In response to the changes proposed by President Trump's order, Keshel outlines a series of actions, including the preparation to use hand-marked and hand-counted paper ballots for the 2026 elections, the transition away from electronic systems that will not meet the upcoming federal standards, and legislative adjustments to support the move toward greater transparency in elections.
The order reinforces the constitutional responsibility of states in managing elections, while also clarifying that federal oversight is necessary in areas such as national security and voter citizenship verification. Keshel views the order as an initial step, with expectations for additional reforms. She references U.S. Representative Chip Roy’s SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship in federal elections, and U.S. Representative Pete Sessions’s MESA Act, which advocates for hand-marked, hand-counted election methods across the country.
Keshel, representing Legislative District 17, which includes parts of Pima and Pinal Counties, advocates for the view that physical ballots are a key component of the democratic process. In her press release, she states, "Machines don’t vote. Americans do." Her public statements and support for Trump's executive order indicate a potential shift in election administration, both in Arizona and possibly across the United States.
