'Judicial Coup' Lands Between EAC and Proof of Citizenship
District Court judge issues 'pause' on parts of election integrity Executive Order that adds documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote -- just as EAC is gathering to take up the EO.
Election integrity movement officials are scratching their heads over a federal court ruling that pauses the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) from updating voter-registration forms to provide proof of citizenship, as part of an executive order by the Trump administration.
The 120-page opinion issued Thursday by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the D.C. District Court said EAC commissioners must temporarily pause efforts to “modify the content of the federal voter registration application form … to require documentary proof of United States citizenship.”
The ruling made no mention of federal laws, cited in the EO, which require citizenship proof to register. Right now, that consists of checking a box on a form.
Many states automatically register individuals — even if they check “no” on the citizenship question under Dept. of Motor Vehicles’ “Motor Voter” programs.
The judge’s ruling combined lawsuits that the Democratic National Committee, and two aligned activist groups, the League of Women Voters Education Fund, and the League of United Latin American Citizens had filed against Executive Order 14248, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.”
Some 21 Democrat attorneys general have also joined litigation against the EO.
Cleta Mitchell, founder of the Election Integrity Network (EIN), said Judge Kollar-Kotelly “completely missed the legal mark in this biased and lawless ruling.” She noted that the EO does not propose any changes to existing election rules and statutes.
The EO is “carefully crafted to direct federal agencies to take steps aimed at enforcement of existing federal law, to help states implement those statutes – in keeping with the language of those laws,” Mitchell said in a statement.
Plaintiff statements claimed the EO was an attempt to re-write election laws. For example, LULAC, said:
The Court's decision affirms that the president does not possess unilateral authority to impose conditions on voter registration governed by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), a statute enacted by Congress to streamline and expand voter participation.
Under this law, the EAC—not the Executive Branch—has exclusive authority to determine the content of the federal voter registration form. Any attempt by the president to dictate changes outside of that process is unlawful and unconstitutional.
"This ruling reaffirms the separation of powers and the checks and balances that protect our freedoms.”
Mitchell added:
“The only separation of powers failure here is the disregard by yet another federal judge of the Article II executive authority of the President to enforce federal law, and the unlawful and unconstitutional substitution of this judge’s views for those of the President in the proper exercise of his constitutional responsibilities.”
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling, amid an unprecedented number of legal challenges to President Trump’s governing agenda after voters elected him by overwhelming margins in the 2024 election.
JustSecurity.org has been tracking the lawsuits, which number at least 211, by Democrat-aligned groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The Supreme Court is expected to address the recent explosion of district judges issuing nationwide injunctions when it takes up a flurry of “temporary” injunctions against President Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order, expected in mid-May.
EAC’S ANNUAL STANDARDS MEETING
Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling landed as the annual two-day meeting of EAC’s standards board was underway in North Carolina to review the EO.
Officials who were in attendance said the EAC is still working through how to address directives that point out guidance on election statutes.
“It remains to be seen how this all plays out,” Commissioner Christy McCormick told The Associated Press during a break in the meeting.
“I think we have to be ready, though. And I think that’s the position we’re in at the moment — trying to take what steps we can to be prepared.”
In other areas of the ruling, the judge denied Democratic Party plaintiffs’ motion to block enforcement of federal statutes, such as 2 U.S.C. 7, which establishes the “Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November” to hold federal elections.
One key area of the EO that EI groups are watching directs agencies to make federal citizenship data available to states for “comparing citizenship status to voter rolls.”
It also directs the Attorney General to ensure compliance with federal voter list maintenance requirements under the National Voter Registration Act, and the Help America Vote Act.
The NVRA requires states to provide full month and date of birth in voter-list records so the public can check accuracy of voter-registration records.
Virginia’s Department of Elections abruptly changed its policy in August of 2024 to only provide year of birth, in violation of Sec. 8 of the NVRA.
ELECT has since confirmed that it plans to return to compliance, which EPEC Team is monitoring to ensure ELECT actually follows through. So far, it is still withholding the full month and date of birth from voter-list maintenance records.
The House of Representatives has also passed H.R. 22, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which is a major reform of the NVRA.
Similar bills are in the works in the Senate, which would need seven Democrat senators to join with the Republican majority to pass by 60 votes. #
She will be overturned next week.