Trump’s attempt to revamp elections with proof of citizenship requirement challenged in court
By Tierney Sneed, CNN
(CNN) — Democratic groups and non-partisan organizations separately sued Monday over an executive order targeting election procedures signed last week by President Donald Trump, kicking off a court fight over Trump’s attempt to unilaterally revamp how elections are run.
“The Order is an attack on the constitutionally mandated checks and balances that keep American elections free and fair,” the complaint from the non-partisan organizations said. “Through this unconstitutional action, the President intrudes on the states’ and Congress’s authority to set election rules in an attempt to make it far more difficult for eligible U.S. citizens to exercise their fundamental right to vote.”
The legal challenges are only the latest in a wave of litigation against the Trump administration, accusing the presidentof infringing on Congress’ powers by acting outside the bounds of the law. Some of the lawsuits’ claims also echo acourt battle during Trump’s first presidency, when he launched a commission to study voter fraud after claiming mass fraud in the 2016 election. That commission folded under a mountain of lawsuits.
The lawsuits, both filed in DC’s federal district court, take aim at Trump’s efforts to push states to adopt a requirement that voters show documents proving their citizenship while registering and allege Trump’s order oversteps in its attempt to force states to end the practice of accepting mail ballots that arrive after Election Days. (Most of the 20 or so states that count such ballots require a postmark showing they were mailed by Election Day or before.)
The lawsuit from the nonpartisan groups – the League of United Latin American Citizens, a military families group called the Secure Families Initiative and the Arizona Students’ Association – also challenges Trump directives that would add requirements for military members and other Americans abroad who are seeking to cast ballots.
The Democratic complaint meanwhile singles out the executive order’s instructions for the Department of Government Efficiency – or DOGE – to assist in a review of state voter rolls using federal data to identify alleged non-citizens.
Not only is that directive a violation of the Privacy Act, the Democrats allege, but “matching information contained in federal databases to voter registration data is an extremely error-prone endeavor for several reasons, not the least because federal databases are often not ‘up to date.”
Bringing the Democratic lawsuit are the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Governors Association, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Senate and House leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.
In a statement, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields accused Democrats of showing “their disdain for the Constitution.”
“The Trump administration is standing up for free, fair, and honest elections and asking this basic question is essential to our Constitutional Republic,” Fields said.
The-CNN-Wire
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