WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Elias Law Group filed a federal lawsuit challenging President Trump’s new Executive Order unlawfully limiting mail-in voting across the country. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The Executive Order, titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” was signed by President Trump on March 31. The Order directs the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to create a national “Citizenship List” of individuals in each state confirmed to be U.S. citizens, using federal databases including the notoriously inaccurate SAVE system. The Order then forbids the U.S. Postal Service from delivering mail ballots from any voter not on the Trump Administration’s approved list.
The Executive Order is consistent with President Trump’s longstanding political aims. As the lawsuit points out, “President Trump has openly admitted that the goal of adding these barriers to the voting process is to ensure that for the next ‘50 years,’ Republicans will ‘never lose a race.’”
The lawsuit argues that the President’s Executive Order violates several provisions of the U.S. Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Privacy Act. The Constitution grants authority over elections to the states and Congress—not the President. Federal courts have repeatedly affirmed this principle, including in a case filed by the Plaintiffs in this case last year, blocking parts of President Trump’s last election-related Executive Order.
The lawsuit also makes clear that this Executive Order confirms the Trump Administration’s plans to build a national voter database, which the Department of Justice has denied in multiple ongoing lawsuits seeking to coerce states to hand unredacted voter data over to the Trump Administration. Elias Law Group represents voters and organizations that filed motions to intervene in each of those lawsuits.
“Multiple federal courts have already made clear to President Trump that he cannot bypass Congress and the States to rewrite our election laws,” said Elias Law Group partner Lali Madduri. “Apparently, he hasn’t gotten the message yet. This Executive Order is President Trump’s next lawless attempt to seize control of American elections. Thankfully, Democrats are stepping up to fight back against this unconstitutional overreach. We are honored to represent the DSCC, DCCC, DNC, and DGA, as well as Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in this important lawsuit.”
Click HERE to read the complaint.
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