Judge Makes Permanent Block on Trump Election Order While Separate Order and Legislation Advance

U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston on Wednesday permanently barred President Donald Trump's administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections. The order, signed months after Trump took office for his second term, required documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration, directed that mail ballots arriving after Election Day not be counted even if postmarked earlier, and authorized withholding federal funds from noncompliant states.

Casper rejected the administration's claim that the lawsuit filed by Democratic state attorneys general was premature. She ruled that the Constitution assigns election regulation to states and Congress and that the order violated separation of powers. "The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections," Casper wrote.

The decision converts a preliminary injunction Casper issued a year earlier into a permanent prohibition. New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was grateful the court had blocked Trump's "unconstitutional attempt to seize control of our elections" and would continue to defend voting rights in this year's midterm elections.

Trump has since signed a second executive order seeking a national voter list and further limits on mail balloting.

The SAVE America Act, which would enact a citizenship-proof requirement by statute, passed the House but remains stalled in the Senate. Separate federal judges have already blocked the citizenship requirement on the federal registration form and for military voters.