Judge Blocks Trump Order Expanding Voters' Proof-Of-Citizenship Requirements

The Constitution only entrusts Congress and the states with the authority to regulate federal elections, a judge ruled.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order expanding proof-of-citizenship requirements for people registering to vote, saying the president has no constitutional authority to regulate elections.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted a preliminary injunction against some elements of Trump’s order after voting rights groups and the Democratic Party brought complaints against it, saying their challenge is likely to prevail.

“Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the States ― not the President ― with the authority to regulate federal elections,” she wrote. “Consistent with that allocation of power, Congress is currently debating legislation that would effect many of the changes the President purports to order. ... And no statutory delegation of authority to the Executive Branch permits the President to short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order.”

Trump’s team “has offered almost no defense of the President’s order on the merits,” she continued. ”Instead, they argue that these suits have been brought by the wrong plaintiffs at the wrong time.”

Kollar-Kotelly also granted an injunction on a part of Trump’s order requiring federal agencies that register people to vote to assess a person’s citizenship before giving them a voter registration form.