WASHINGTON, DC – At least 19 states this past week have filed a lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump for attempting to change the election process across the nation, calling his attempt unconstitutional and an invasion of states’ authority this week, according to the Associated Press News (AP).
Trump’s executive order seeks to enforce stricter documentation requirements for voter registration to prove citizenship, including a U.S. passport, a REAL-ID-compliant driver’s license that “indicates citizenship” and a valid photo ID with proof of citizenship, explained AP News.
Additionally, AP News reported, all mail ballots should be received by Election Day. The lawsuit submitted by democratic officials is the fourth among several others that seek to push against the executive order, attempting to block this new requirement, added AP News.
AP News wrote there has been no indication of election fraud, even when Trump lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 elections.
The state attorneys general wrote within court documents, “The President has no power to do any of this, the elections executive order is unconstitutional, anti-democratic, and un-American,” reported AP News.
Forcing states to change their election process, the lawsuit says, is a violation of the authority the Constitution provides the states to set their own rules for the election process, reported AP News, noting the states decide the locations, times, and orderly conduct in which elections are run.
As outlined by the Constitution, the only branch that has the authority to alter election regulations is Congress; the Constitution does not provide the executive branch with the power over election administration, wrote AP News.
“We are a democracy — not a monarchy — and this executive order is an authoritarian power grab,” AP News cited New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump’s order argued that it secures the vote against noncitizens who are voting illegally, though numerous studies and investigations in the U.S. have shown it is uncommon for that to happen, said AP News.
The Trump administration is requiring states to either comply with the order or lose the approved funding from Congress, reported AP News.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neroha stated in the AP report this is something the President has no authority to execute, noting, “In one fell swoop, this president is attempting to undermine elections and sidestep the Congress, and we’re not going to stand for it.”
Defending their state’s elections as fair, secure, and transparent, the attorney general and secretary of state in Nevada adamantly objected to the Presidential order, praising Nevada’s automatic system for registering voters and distributing mail ballots, reported AP News.
“While this order is on its face unconstitutional and illegal, it is also unnecessary,” Attorney General Ford said as reported by AP News.
Other Democrats argue that several Americans do not have the means of accessing their birth certificates and passports, and many married women would need to go through several documents if their name was changed, writes AP News, adding not all REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses designate U.S. citizenship.
AP News writes the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts by the Democratic attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Democrats let millions and millions of immigrants enter our country and now they want to make it easy for non citizens to vote. That was the plan all along.