As Court Refuses to Block Vote-By-Mail Executive Order for Now, Voting Rights Groups Pledge to Keep Fighting
WASHINGTON — While the District Court for the District of Columbia rejected a request to temporarily pause an unconstitutional executive order seeking to limit access to mail-in voting, the fight to defeat this executive order is far from over. To be clear, nothing in the judge’s ruling — which was based purely on the administration’s assertions that nothing has yet happened to implement this executive order and therefore a challenge was too early — endorsed the order’s contents. This decision does not change the fact that the president has exceeded his legal authority and violated the separation of powers in his effort to exert control over our elections. We are confident he will not succeed in this unconstitutional effort, and we will not stop fighting for American voters.
Voting by mail is a safe, secure and accessible method used by millions of Americans — including the president himself — to cast their ballots. It's also a method that has been used reliably by military voters for over 150 years. In the president's unconstitutional order, he went beyond his constitutional and legal authority to demand the creation of a shadow national voter registry built on faulty data and mandate that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) refuse to deliver ballots based on its own voter lists, threatening to disenfranchise millions of voters. Attempting to create a national voter registry with faulty data not only threatens to disenfranchise millions, but it lies outside the authority of the federal government.
This is doubly true for the part of the order that purports to direct USPS; USPS is an independent agency regulated by Congress, and it cannot be controlled or compelled to act by the president. Only Congress has the power to regulate the U.S. mail.
“With this decision, the court tells us that it is too soon to obtain relief because the harmful actions contemplated by the executive order have not yet taken place,” said Juan Proaño, chief executive officer of LULAC. “While we respectfully disagree, the fight is far from over, and we stand ready to protect our elections and all voters from this administration’s overreach as this case progresses.”
“Attempting to upend mail-in voting and voter registration through an executive order is an unconstitutional and illegal abuse of executive power,” said Danielle Lang, vice president for voting rights and the rule of law at Campaign Legal Center. “The Constitution is clear: Only the states and Congress have the power to regulate elections — not the president. Across the country, the administration is attempting to unlawfully shape the electorate to the will of the president and sow doubt in how our elections are run — but we will continue working to stop them at every turn. We look forward to the next stage of this litigation and will continue to urge the court to enforce the constitutional limitations on the president and ensure he cannot limit Americans’ freedom to vote.”
“The civil rights movement taught us that progress is never permanent without a fight. At SFI we believe protecting the freedom to vote honors both the generations who fought for civil rights at home and the military families like us who continue serving this country today,” said Brandi Jones, director of Organizing at Secure Families Initiative.
“The ruling is disappointing, but it does not bless this order or cure its central constitutional defect: President Trump has no power to rewrite election law from the White House,” said Ambassador Norm Eisen (ret.), co-executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “The Trump administration is trying to seize control over elections it has no lawful authority to run, create a de facto national voter registry using unreliable federal data, and turn the Postal Service into an election-enforcement arm of the White House. We will keep fighting to stop this unlawful power grab and protect eligible voters who are entitled by law to receive and cast mail ballots.”
"We are deeply disappointed by this ruling, which creates new barriers for voters who already face challenges participating in our democracy. Mail-in voting is a critical tool that helps balance civic engagement with the realities of folks' schedules, work, and mobility. Every eligible voter deserves a fair and accessible opportunity to make their voice heard. We remain committed to protecting student voting rights and ensuring that every student can participate fully in our democratic process,” said Jessica Mendoza, executive director of Arizona Students’ Association.
In early April, Campaign Legal Center and Democracy Defenders Fund sued the Executive Office of the President — alongside members of the president’s Cabinet and select federal agencies — on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Secure Families Initiative, and Arizona Students’ Association. This coalition then requested the court temporarily pause the executive order from going into effect.
Last year, this same coalition successfully and permanently blocked two key provisions of another anti-voter executive order by the president attempting to establish unconstitutional proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration.
More information about our case is available here.
###
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials.
Learn more about CLC. Don't miss out on our latest resources: Subscribe to President Trevor Potter's newsletter on LinkedIn or email and tune in to the latest season of our award-winning podcast, Democracy Decoded.