The ruling converts a preliminary injunction that the judge had issued a year ago into a permanent ban
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing part of an executive order President Donald Trump signed last year that would require proof of citizenship as a requirement to vote in elections.
In an order issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Denise L. Casper wrote that federal law and the Constitution give power to a president to manage elections.
“Our Constitution vests control over federal elections in the States, subject to some oversight by Congress,” wrote Casper, who serves in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, in the order. “While the Constitution vests the President with ‘executive power’ and commands him to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’ it does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” he wrote.
The ruling by Casper effectively converts a preliminary injunction that she had issued a year ago, in which she temporarily blocked many of Trump’s efforts to overhaul elections, into a permanent ban.
Among other changes, Trump’s order would have required people to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote; prevented mail ballots from being counted if they arrive after Election Day, even if they were postmarked by then; and punished states that failed to comply by withholding certain federal money.
Casper, in her order, rejected the Trump administration’s argument that the lawsuit to block the changes brought by Democratic state attorneys general was premature because the rules had yet to be implemented. Instead, she agreed that the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to regulate elections, and that Trump’s requirements violated the separation of powers.
At issue is a March 2025 order signed by Trump titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” which had directed the federal Election Assistance Commission to ensure that proof-of-citizenship requirements were implemented in national mail voter registration applications.
It also mandated that the attorney general penalize states that count mail-in ballots received after Election Day.
“States fail adequately to vet voters’ citizenship, and, in recent years, the Department of Justice has failed to prioritize and devote sufficient resources for enforcement of these provisions,” said the order, in part, providing the Trump administration’s rationale on why the measure is needed. “Even worse, the prior administration actively prevented States from removing aliens from their voter lists.”
