A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Friday sided with civil rights groups who sued the Trump administration Executive order required Proof of Citizenship for Registration to Vote.
US District Judge Colleen Koller-Cotelli wrote in his decision Responsibility for election regulation rests in the hands of the states and Congress, as stated in the Constitution, and “the President has no authority to direct such changes.”
He later said, “The allocation of authority over federal elections between Congress and the states in the Constitution may not have been spontaneous. But it is no accident. Instead, its design was the product of carefully considered compromises between the framers of our Constitution.”
Koller-Cotelli also ruled that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission is permanently barred from including proof of citizenship in federal voter registration.
“The Court’s decision confirms what we have long argued: The President cannot rewrite election law to impose a burdensome show-paper rule that would lock countless Americans out of the ballot box,” a joint statement reads. statement From the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) about the decision.
The statement further said, “This executive order was an attempt to usurp power, bypassing the Constitution’s clear allocation of authority to set election rules to Congress and the states.” “Our democracy is strongest when every eligible voter can register and vote, free from costly and unnecessary requirements.”
trial The filing against the Trump administration was brought by the League of Women Voters Education Fund, League of Women Voters of the United States, League of Women Voters of Arizona, Hispanic Federation, NAACP, OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, and Asian and Pacific Islander Vote.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The New York Times said the administration would appeal the decision.
“President Trump has used his legal authority to ensure that only American citizens can vote in American elections,” he said.
Trump signed executive order in marchAlthough the order states that state governments oversee US elections, “the United States has not adequately enforced federal election requirements that, for example, prevent states from counting ballots received after Election Day or prevent non-citizens from registering to vote.”
Applicants registering to vote must provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport, REAL ID or another state or federally issued identification that proves citizenship.
Critics say the order will result in large numbers of voters being disenfranchised.
“There are a lot of problems with it,” Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told The Hill in April. “chairman [of] The United States does not regulate voting laws. States in America control voting laws, and Congress can regulate, but what the president is talking about, Congress hasn’t passed it.”
Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) also said in April, “As someone who has attended Georgia many times, I have seen voter suppression up close.” “Officials in Georgia saw the structure of my victory for the first time and they went after it with surgical precision. I had to beat them in court to win my race. And so we’re seeing the president playing largely from the same playbook.”
