Today, a federal court issued a ruling in League of Women Voters et. al. v. Trump et. al., temporarily blocking the U.S. Election Assistance Commission from implementing a mandate in the president’s executive order to add a requirement to show a passport or similar document proving citizenship when registering to vote via the federal form. While the case proceeds, this injunction preserves the status quo wherein would-be-voters already affirm under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens on the federal form.
Co-counsel representing the League of Women Voters plaintiffs made the following joint statement in reaction to the preliminary injunction:
“The court’s decision today provides crucial protections for eligible voters, and the organizations that help them register to vote, while the fight continues against this illegal executive order. Millions of U.S. citizens lack easy access to a passport or other documents proving citizenship, and that shouldn’t interfere with their ability to register to vote.
“The president’s attempted takeover of federal elections is a blatant overreach to seize power that doesn’t belong to him. Under the Constitution, that power belongs to the U.S. Congress and states. The president lacks authority to rewrite the country’s election rules on his own by weaponizing an independent, bipartisan commission to harm eligible voters. The order should ultimately be struck down.
“Our clients are conducting voter registration using the federal form on an ongoing basis, including for elections scheduled for this summer and fall. Not only would our clients be harmed by the mandate to include this unnecessary and cumbersome requirement but the voters they serve would be too.”
The plaintiffs in League of Women Voters et. al. v. Trump et. al. are Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, the Hispanic Federation, National League of Women Voters, League of Women Voters of Arizona, League of Women Voters Education Fund, NAACP, and OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates. They are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of D.C., Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC (Advancing Justice – AAJC), Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, the Legal Defense Fund, and LatinoJustice PRLDEF.
See more about the case here.
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