Defending the Freedom to Vote from the Trump Administration’s Unconstitutional Presidential Overreach (LULAC, et al. v. Executive Office of the President)

President Trump’s recent executive order is an illegal and unconstitutional attempt to take control of our elections. The Constitution gives the states and Congress the power to regulate our elections, not the president.

On behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Secure Families Initiative (SFI), and Arizona Students’ Association, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and State Democracy Defenders Fund are filing suit to stop this unconstitutional executive overreach, protect the freedom to vote and safeguard our system of checks and balances.  

By attempting — without any legal authority — to upend our voter registration and mail-in voting processes, this executive order could prevent American citizens from exercising their essential freedom to make their voices heard.

The president does not have the power to regulate our elections.  However, President Trump’s executive order orders the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to change the federal voter registration form to require voter registration applicants to provide additional documentation to prove their U.S. citizenship — documents that millions of American citizens do not have access to. The president does not have the authority to do this.

Additionally, the executive order attempts to invalidate 17 states’ mail-in ballot receipt deadlines and require additional documentation for military and overseas voters, by threatening to withhold critical federal funding for election administration from states that do not comply with the president’s policy agenda.  

Under the Constitution and federal law, the president does not have the power to do this, nor does the Department of Justice have the authority to invalidate state laws setting receipt deadlines for ballots cast and mailed prior to Election Day.  

The president’s unconstitutional effort to set election rules is a clear violation of the separation of powers, and, if adopted, would prevent millions of eligible Americans from registering and voting. These burdensome documentary proof of citizenship requirements would have an especially heavy impact on Latino voters, military voters and their families, and college students across the United States — including members of each of the plaintiff organizations.  

We are requesting that the court declare President Trump’s executive order illegal and unconstitutional and block the order from taking effect to stop this unconstitutional executive overreach.