Top Democrats have filed a lawsuit to block President Donald Trump’s executive order mandating that voters must provide proof of citizenship to cast ballots in federal elections.
The lawsuit alleges that Trump’s order will “impose radical changes on how Americans register to vote.”
Trump signed the executive order last week seeking to overhaul the nation’s elections.
However, the order now faces two legal challenges, one of them by top Democrats.
The first lawsuit was filed on Monday afternoon by two leftist groups – the Campaign Legal Center and the State Democracy Defenders Fund.
Shortly after, the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governors Association, and Senate and House Democratic leaders filed a complaint of their own.
Both lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ask the court to block Trump’s order and declare it illegal.
The Democrats’ lawsuit, filed by the Elias Law Group, alleges:
“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 suit takes issues with Trump’s rules for mail-in ballot receipt deadlines, the “President’s own design preferences” on “congressionally mandated voter registration forms” and “the President’s unlawful effort to upturn the electoral playing field in his favor and against his political rivals.”
According to The Associated Press, lawyers had warned that some of Trump’s demands in the order, including a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration and new ballot deadline rules, may face constitutional challenges.
On March 25, the day he signed the order during an ambassador meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Trump said in a Truth Social post:
“We believe that this Executive Order is the farthest-reaching executive action taken in the history of the republic to Secure our Elections.”
The order also asserts power that legal experts say the president doesn’t have over an independent agency.
That agency, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, sets voluntary voting system guidelines and maintains the federal voter registration form, the AP reports.
The DNC’s lawsuit highlights the role of Trump’s cost-cutting arm, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
It alleges the order’s data-sharing requirements, including instructing DOGE to cross-reference federal data with state voter lists, violate Democrats’ privacy rights.
Democrats claim it increases the risk that they will be harassed “based on false suspicions that they are not qualified to vote.”
Top election officials in some Republican states have praised Trump’s order, meanwhile.
They say it could inhibit instances of voter fraud and give them access to federal data to better maintain their voter rolls.
If the courts determine the order can stand, the changes Trump wants may cause some headaches for election administrators and voters.
State election officials, who have already lost some federal cybersecurity assistance, would have to spend time and money to comply with the order, including potentially buying new voting systems and educating voters on the rules.
Democrats claimed the proof-of-citizenship requirement could also cause confusion or voter disenfranchisement.
They argue that millions of eligible voting-age Americans do not have the proper documents readily available.
However, these documents are required for many other essential aspects of everyday life, such as renting a home.
