Democratic officials in 19 states filed a lawsuit Thursday to stop President Trump's attempt to reshape elections across the US, calling it an unconstitutional invasion of states' clear authority to run their own elections. The lawsuit is the fourth contesting the executive order issued just a week ago. It seeks to block key aspects of it, including new requirements that people provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a demand that all mail ballots be received by Election Day, the AP reports. "The President has no power to do any of this," the state attorneys general wrote in court documents. "The Elections EO is unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American."
Trump's order says the US has failed "to enforce basic and necessary election protection"; election officials have said recent elections have been among the most secure in the nation's history. There has been no indication of any widespread fraud, including when Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Trump has argued that his order secures the vote against illegal voting by noncitizens, though multiple studies and investigations have shown that's rare. It has been praised by top election officials in some Republican states who say the order could inhibit voter fraud and will give them access to federal data to better maintain voter rolls. The order also requires states to exclude mail-in or absentee ballots received after Election Day and puts states' federal funding at risk if election officials don't comply.
Some states count ballots as long as they are postmarked by Election Day or allow voters to correct minor errors on their ballots, per the AP. Forcing states to change, the suit says, would violate the broad authority the Constitution gives states to set their own election rules. It says they decide the "times, places and manner" of how elections are run. Congress has the power to "make or alter" election regulations, at least for federal office, but the Constitution doesn't mention any presidential authority over election administration. The lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Massachusetts by the Democratic attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
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