The Democratic Party has filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court seeking to halt President Donald Trump’s executive order that aims to revamp the election system. They argue that the changes proposed by the order could potentially deny eligible American citizens their right to vote.
In the lawsuit filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C., the Democratic National Committee alleges that Trump’s executive order, issued on March 25, exceeds his authority by mandating voters to prove their U.S. citizenship, barring states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day, and threatening to withhold federal funding from states that do not comply.
According to the legal complaint filed by prominent Democratic election attorney Marc Elias and his colleagues, the executive order imposes significant alterations to voter registration, ballot casting, and democratic participation, all of which pose a threat to disenfranchising lawful voters and are not in accordance with the law.
Joining the lawsuit as plaintiffs are U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries, who lead the Democratic minorities in the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively.
The White House has not yet provided a response to the lawsuit. Previously, the Trump administration has contended that the executive order is necessary to prevent foreign interference in U.S. elections.
Trump has persistently cast doubt on the U.S. electoral system, baselessly claiming that his defeat in the 2020 election to President Joe Biden was due to widespread fraud. The lawsuit challenges these unfounded assertions, noting that the U.S. Constitution grants states and Congress – not the president – the authority to regulate federal elections to prevent manipulation for personal gain.
Furthermore, voting rights organizations, including the Campaign Legal Center and State Democracy Defenders Fund, have separately challenged the executive order in court.
This article was reported by Luc Cohen in New York and edited by Alexia Garamfalvi and Edwina Gibbs.
