Groups challenging the order ‘are substantially likely to prevail,’ the judge ruled.
A judge on April 24 blocked President Donald Trump’s ordering that officials require people provide proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in an order that the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must stop taking action to require a passport or other proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Trump in a March order said that the EAC, established by Congress to help officials administer elections, shall take steps to require “documentary proof of United States citizenship” in its national mail voter registration form. The commission had recently advised states that it is considering how to amend the federal form, which lets people register to vote.
Groups and Democrats challenging the section of Trump’s order pertaining to proof of citizenship “are substantially likely to prevail” in their case, Kollar-Kotelly said.
“Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the States—not the President—with the authority to regulate federal elections,” she wrote. “Consistent with that allocation of power, Congress is currently debating legislation that would effect many of the changes the President purports to order. And no statutory delegation of authority to the Executive Branch permits the President to short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order.”
Harrison Fields, a White House spokesman, told The Epoch Times in an email: “President Trump will keep fighting for election integrity, despite Democrat objections that reveal their disdain for commonsense safeguards like verifying citizenship. Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our Constitutional Republic, and we’re confident in securing an ultimate victory in the courtroom.”
Marc Elias, a lawyer representing some of the plaintiffs, said on the social media platform BlueSky that the ruling was a “big victory for our clients.”
Organizations, including the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), sued over the president’s order, alleging that it violates the U.S. Constitution.
They pointed to a federal law that states in part that a person applying to vote can sign the form under penalty of perjury to attest that they are a citizen.
“The Executive Order seeks to impose burdensome proof of citizenship requirements based on documents millions of Americans do not possess,” one lawsuit stated.
