States sue Trump over election order, warn of voting ‘chaos’

States that fail to comply with Trump’s order would face potential Justice Department investigations and the loss of federal funding.

Democrat-led US states filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring major changes to the way Americans vote, escalating a legal showdown that started earlier this week with complaints filed by party leaders and nonprofits.

The suit filed Thursday in Boston federal court seeks to invalidate Trump’s demand that states for the first time require proof of citizenship to register to vote and refrain from counting valid mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive after.

The states argue Trump’s order violates the Constitution by usurping their authority to manage elections. They also say the order would disenfranchise voters who don’t have a passport or other proof of citizenship, and force states to disqualify potentially millions of legitimate absentee ballots.

The executive includes new requirements related to voting machine technology and voter databases, all of which would drive up infrastructure costs unnecessarily, according to the suit. States that fail to comply with Trump’s order would face potential Justice Department investigations and the loss of federal funding.

“For all these reasons, the elections EO is unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American,” the states, led by the attorneys general of California and Nevada, said in the complaint. “It intrudes on the constitutionally reserved powers of the states and Congress.”

The suit adds to a growing list of legal challenges by Democrat-led states to Trump policies, including restrictions on so-called birthright citizenship and efforts to slash federal spending and employment. The president’s election order could have a significant impact on vote tallies that determine control of Congress and the White House.

“My fellow attorneys general and I are taking him to court because this executive order is nothing but a blatantly illegal power grab and an attempt to disenfranchise voters,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in the statement, adding that Trump “is not a king.”

Earlier suits over the election order were filed in Washington federal court by nonprofits representing Latinos, military families and college students, as well as the League of Women Voters of the United States. Another suit filed earlier, led by the Democratic National Committee, was joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who said Trump was upending the separation of powers.

Those Washington suits were consolidated into a single case on Thursday by US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a Bill Clinton appointee. The new suit in Boston ensures that different federal circuit courts will handle expected appeals. The US Supreme Court is likely to have the final say.

The Constitution calls for state legislatures to “establish the times, places, and manner of holding elections.” Proof of citizenship has never been required to vote, and 18 states currently count valid ballots after Election Day as long as they were mailed on time.

The states “will suffer severe cuts in federal funding that will throw the national electoral system into disarray” if they refuse to comply with the president’s order, according to the new lawsuit.

Trump’s critics have said the new executive order was written to address his grievances about losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden. The president has long repeated debunked claims that voting-machine companies conspired to manipulate ballots, while Elon Musk last year amplified conspiracy theories that undocumented migrants were planning to vote in vast numbers. Democrats say evidence shows voter fraud is rare.

The executive order requires the Election Assistance Commission to amend its national mail voter registration form to require proof of citizenship for the first time, including a US passport and other IDs compliant with the Real ID Act of 2005. The states say the bipartisan commission can only make such changes in consultation with Congress, which created the body.

“It bears emphasizing: the President has no power to do any of this,” the states said.