politics
Courts Block Two Trump Election Orders on Voter Verification
Federal judges in Washington and Boston halted parts of two executive orders that expanded federal checks on voter rolls and required proof of citizenship at registration. The administration said it will appeal the rulings.
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A federal court in Washington blocked an order that would have expanded a federal database to scan local voter files for noncitizens. The ruling prevents the addition of U.S. citizen data to the list. A separate federal court in Boston ruled against an earlier order that required proof of citizenship when registering to vote. The administration is expected to appeal both decisions.
Republicans have declined to advance the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register. President Trump has said he will not sign other legislation unless the measure is included. Republicans in the chamber said they lack the votes to pass the bill even if procedural rules were changed.
House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the executive orders lawfully protect elections and that the administration expects to prevail on appeal. She added that President Trump continues to urge Congress to pass the SAVE America Act along with measures requiring photo identification, ending no-excuse mail voting, and banning ballot harvesting.
The Department of Justice is suing multiple states to obtain voter roll data. The Homeland Security Department has placed election integrity activist Heather Honey in a deputy assistant secretary role. Hanna Hickman, senior counsel at Democracy Forward, said the administration's approach trades privacy for certainty that fraud does not exist.
