On Thursday, President Donald Trump’s executive order, which was essentially an effort to enact his voting-rights restrictions without legislation.
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Trump’s executive order mandates the U.S. Post Office maintain a list of Americans aged 18 or older to “confirm to be United States Citizens.” They would then be the only people able to receive and send mail ballots. Anyone not on Trump’s list would be unable to use USPS to mail their ballot to the election departments. Those responsible for building the list of voters: The states themselves.
Writing about the executive order, former federal prosecutor from Alabama, Joyce Vance said, “The point emerges early on. This is not an EO about ensuring election integrity. It’s an effort to let politicians, namely this president, influence election outcomes instead of letting voter elect their chosen representatives.”
In response to Trump’s order, USPS then required new rules forcing states to turn over their voter rolls, and any failure to comply meant USPS wouldn’t send their ballots.
On Thursday, Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts blocked parts of the order.
It isn’t the only case in courts; there are 23 states and the District of Columbia that are opposing the suit in court, along with various interest groups and political parties.
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Judge Carl J. Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a Trump appointee, is navigating one of those cases, though he has yet to issue a preliminary injunction. He said that the main reason is that the Trump administration hasn’t developed rules, made the lists or stopped anyone from getting their ballots yet. Though Talwani’s ruling ensured it was paused for now. For example, it’s unknown whether Trump’s order would mandate all Americans to re-register to vote before November.
Vance called the order “rank voter suppression, removing decision making authority from the states and vesting it in the Trump administration, which has repeatedly demonstrated its interest in winning, even if that means keeping Democrats from voting or refusing to count their votes when they do.”
Trump has been fighting for the bill officially titled the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility America Act,” which would, among other things, require proof of citizenship to register to vote. It’s illegal to vote if you are not a citizen. As it stands, the law already has very tight restrictions, but state and local authorities verify citizenship on their end. The document requirement would mandate that only a few options could be used, such as a birth certificate or a passport.
On Wednesday, a separate ruling struck down the citizenship requirements in his bill.
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