WASHINGTON, D.C. -The Brennan Center for Justice this week announced the filing of a federal lawsuit on behalf of civil rights and voting organizations following Trump’s executive order concerning elections.
The announcement charged the president’s executive order March 25, entitled Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections, aims to amend the federal voter registration form to include “documentary proof of United States citizenship” in order to vote.
The order, said the Brennan Center, also directs the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to withhold funding from states that do not comply with the amended rule as well as states that do not reject ballots received after Election Day, even under timely laws.
The Brennan Center writes the order “directs the commission to amend the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines to prohibit the use of certain voting systems and rescind all previous certifications of state systems, calling the directives unlawful, because “they violate federal and constitutional law.”
In a letter sent to the EAC, the Brennan Center outlines the unlawful directives, detailing, “The Order itself is unlawful as it relates to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and it would, in any event, also be unlawful for the Commission to take several of the actions directed by the Order.”
The Brennan Center maintains in its announcement that “the Brennan Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of D.C., Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Latino Justice, and Legal Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit, League of Women Voters v. Trump, challenging the executive order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against President Trump and the EAC.”
The Center said the filing was made on behalf of the League of Women Voters of the US, the League of Women Voters of Arizona, League of Women Voters Education Fund, Hispanic Federation, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates.
The suit, said the plaintiffs, challenges the order’s directive requiring documents proving citizenship to register to vote, claiming it is a federal form of presidential overreach, noting Trump violates the separation of powers doctrine, noting the EAC is an independent agency, and noting the president has no authority over voting regulations.
