A federal judge on Thursday blocked parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order expanding proof-of-citizenship requirements for people registering to vote, saying the president has no constitutional authority to regulate elections.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted a preliminary injunction against some elements of Trump’s order after voting rights groups and the Democratic Party brought complaints against it, saying their challenge is likely to prevail.
“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.”
Trump’s team “has offered almost no defense of the President’s order on the merits,” she continued. ”Instead, they argue that these suits have been brought by the wrong plaintiffs at the wrong time.”
Kollar-Kotelly also granted an injunction on a part of Trump’s order requiring federal agencies that register people to vote to assess a person’s citizenship before giving them a voter registration form.
The complaint against Trump’s order does not call upon the court to rule on whether Trump’s efforts would be legal if implemented, only on whether he has the authority to dictate the policy.
The League of United Latin American Citizens, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, celebrated Thursday’s ruling as a major win.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for voters across the country - particularly voters of color - and our democracy,” its national president, Roman Palomares, said in a statement. “Efforts to silence the voice and votes of the U.S. electorate must not stand because our democracy depends on all voters feeling confident that they can vote freely and that their vote will be counted accurately.”
Trump signed the executive order in question last month, in part directing federal agencies and officials to change the federal voter registration form to require proof of citizenship. That would require people to present a passport or Real ID when registering to vote.
During the signing ceremony, White House staff secretary Will Scharf called the order “the farthest-reaching executive action taken” in American history.
The overhaul is based on Trump’s false claims that voter fraud is rampant in U.S. elections. In reality, it is very rare, as evidenced by dozens of lawsuits that failed to surface any evidence of widespread fraud after the 2020 presidential election.
Kollar-Kotelly declined to issue injunctions on other elements of Trump’s executive order, including a provision that punishes states for counting some ballots received after Election Day, noting that other courts are reviewing similar lawsuits.