A federal judge on Friday blocked President Trump’s effort to require documentary proof of citizenship on federal voter registration forms, ruling that the president “lacks the authority” to impose such a mandate.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of Washington, D.C., sided with the Democratic National Committee and several civil rights groups that sued to stop the executive order aimed at overhauling election procedures. The court found that the order “violated the separation of powers” by attempting to give the executive branch control over matters reserved for Congress and the states.
“The Constitution assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote, concluding that the president “lacks the authority to direct such changes.” Her decision builds on a previous injunction she issued earlier in the case.
The ruling grants partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs, barring the U.S. Election Assistance Commission from implementing or considering any proof-of-citizenship requirement on the federal registration form.
Separate legal challenges are underway as well. In April, nineteen Democratic state attorneys general urged a different court to strike down Trump’s election order, while Washington and Oregon, both states that conduct elections primarily by mail, filed their own suits contesting the directive.
