“The President has no power to do any of this,” the attorneys general wrote in court filings. “The Elections EO is unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American.”
A coalition of state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that a recently-enacted executive order on election practices will create barriers to voting that could indirectly disenfranchise millions of Americans.
The lawsuit was filed earlier this week in a Massachusetts-based federal court. It asks that the Trump administration be prevented from enforcing several provisions of the executive order, which the plaintiff attorneys general say “usur[p] the States’ constitutional power and see[k] to amend election law by fiat.”
“The President has no power to do any of this,” the attorneys general wrote in court filings. “The Elections EO is unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American.”
The officials participating in the lawsuit include 19 attorneys general from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, respectively.
“We are a democracy—not a monarchy—and this Executive Order is an authoritarian power grab,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “With this Order, this President is prioritizing his own quest for unchecked power above the rights and will of the public.”
Trump’s March 25 order, notes National Public Radio, attempts to make dramatic changes to voting protocols and election practices—threatening to withhold federal funds from states that don’t comply with the administration’s mandate.
In his order, Trump wrote that the United States has broadly failed “to enforce basic and necessary election protection.” This is in spite of the fact that election officials have repeatedly found recent elections to be among the most secure in American history.
One of the changes directs the independent and bipartisan Election Assistance Commission to revise federal voter registration statutes to include a requirement that voters provide proof citizenship when registering.
The executive order also prohibits states from counting mail-in ballots were postmarked before Election Day but arrived after its conclusion.
The lawsuit claims that the order, in its current form, “sows confusion and sets the stage for chaos,” likely forcing states to divert critical resources toward new training, testing, and voter education initiatives, all at a “breakneck pace.”
The attorney generals also claim that the millions of Americans who don’t have easy or convenient access to their birth certificates—along with the 50% of people who don’t have a passport, as well as married women who changed their surnames after marriage—would find it difficult, if not outright impossible, to quickly and efficiently register for federal elections.
Sources
19 states sue over Trump’s voting executive order, arguing it’s unconstitutional
Officials in 19 states sue to block Trump’s election order, saying it’s unconstitutional
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