President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to call for a “major” probe into voter fraud and irregularities in the voter rolls. | Getty White House postpones executive action on voter fraud investigation

The White House said that President Donald Trump would sign an executive action to begin an investigation into voter fraud on Friday or Saturday, postponing a move that had been expected on Thursday.

According to a pool report, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters late Thursday afternoon that Trump returned "a little late" from the Republican leadership retreat in Philadelphia and "got jammed up on some meetings that needed to occur," prompting the delay. Earlier in the day, Spicer had said that Trump planned to sign the action around 4:30 p.m.


The question of voter fraud has been in the news for most of the week. Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to call for a “major” probe into voter fraud and irregularities in the voter rolls, two days after he repeated his false claim that he lost the popular vote because millions of people voted illegally for Hillary Clinton in November.

Isolated instances of voter fraud have been documented, though they are very rare, and widespread voter fraud is virtually nonexistent. Multiple independent fact-checkers have deemed Trump's unsubstantiated claim about fraud in the 2016 election false.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, too, said there is no evidence to support it. Sen. Lindsey Graham was more overtly critical, warning Tuesday that Trump’s allegations, offered without evidence, undermine American democratic institutions.

Still, Ryan told MSNBC on Wednesday that he supports the president’s call for an investigation into the issue. There probably is some fraud, he argued, reasoning that a probe would allow Trump to get the facts and make a judgment on the scale.

Spicer told reporters at the daily White House briefing on Wednesday that the investigation Trump had proposed would review more than just the 2016 election.

Trump addressed the issue early Thursday afternoon in remarks to the GOP's leadership retreat in Philadelphia, seeming to counter critics.

"We also need to keep the ballot box safe from illegal voting," he asserted. "And believe me, you take a look at what's registering, folks. They like to say, oh, Trump, Trump, Trump. Take a look at what's registering. We are going to protect the integrity of the ballot box, and we are going to defend the votes of the American citizen. So important."

If signed, the executive action is sure to prompt a rebuke from Democrats, who argued on Wednesday that such a probe is unnecessary and could be used to increase voter suppression going forward.

In recent years, generally Republican-led legislatures have cited fears of voter fraud to enact more regulations on voting, such as voter ID laws. Democrats and civil rights groups oppose those measures, arguing that they are discriminatory because they disproportionately affect minorities and young people who lack government-issued photo identification.