BURSTThree organizations sued Monday over President Trump’s executive order that aims to require proof of citizenship when individuals register to vote.
The lawsuit claims Trump is overstepping his authority and also challenges a provision that seeks to prevent states from accepting mail-in ballots received after Election Day.
“Under our Constitution, the President does not dictate election rules. States and Congress do,” the complaint states.
The suit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., by the League of United Latin American Citizensn (LULAC), Secure Families Initiative and the Arizona Students’ Association.
"The Democrats continue to show their disdain for the Constitution and it continues to show in their insane objections to the President’s commonsense executive actions to require proof of U.S. citizenship in an effort to protect the integrity of American elections. The Trump administration is standing up for free, fair, and honest elections and asking this basic question is essential to our Constitutional Republic," White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement.
Trump signed the order last week, ushering in major election rules change following years of exaggerated claims from about mail ballots and noncitizen voting.
One challenged provision directs the attorney general to target states that count absentee or mail-in ballots that are received after Election Day. Several states allow such ballots, but the practice has come under legal challenges from conservative interests, including a major lawsuit in Mississippi that could soon reach the Supreme Court.
Trump’s order separately seeks to strengthen proof-of-citizenship requirements by directing the Election Assistance Commission to require such proof on its national mail voter registration form. That mandate also extends to the Defense Department, which updates the postcard application used by uniformed service members stationed abroad, as well as overseas citizens.
LULAC has challenged such requirements before at the state level.
“The Order is an attack on the constitutionally mandated checks and balances that keep American elections free and fair,” the lawsuit states. “Through this unconstitutional action, the President intrudes on the states’ and Congress’s authority to set election rules in an attempt to make it far more difficult for eligible U.S. citizens to exercise their fundamental right to vote.”
The groups are represented by State Democracy Defenders Fund, a left-leaning legal organization that has brought many lawsuits against the new administration, and the Campaign Legal Center.
Updated at 6:25 p.m. EDT