The Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Governors Association, and the Senate and House Democratic leaders filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump over his executive order curbing illegal immigrant voting and enforcing election laws.
“The Executive Order seeks to impose radical changes on how Americans register to vote, cast a ballot, and participate in our democracy—all of which threaten to disenfranchise lawful voters and none of which is legal,” the lawsuit claims. “The Order attacks dozens of States that have properly and lawfully adopted ballot receipt deadline laws that permit mail ballots cast by election day to count if received within a certain time frame, ignoring that such laws are longstanding and represent a legitimate ‘policy choice’ by States.”
According to the Democrat organizations, the groups are “severely harmed by the President’s unlawful effort to upturn the electoral playing field in his favor and against his political rivals.”
“Outside of the Elections Clause, other provisions in the Constitution place certain requirements and limitations on the regulation of elections—but none allows the President to override the will of the States or Congress in this space,” the filing adds.
Trump’s executive order, called “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” says the United States “fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections employed by modern, developed nations, as well as those still developing.”
“Under the Constitution, State governments must safeguard American elections in compliance with Federal laws that protect Americans’ voting rights and guard against dilution by illegal voting, discrimination, fraud, and other forms of malfeasance and error,” the order reads. “Yet the United States has not adequately enforced Federal election requirements that, for example, prohibit States from counting ballots received after Election Day or prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote.”
The order asserts that it is the policy of the Trump administration to “enforce Federal law and to protect the integrity of our election process.”
