President Trump signed “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections” in a March 25 ceremony at the White House. That E.O. has been hit with four lawsuits so far, including one filed last week by 19 Democrat-led states.
“The President has no power to do any of this,” the state attorneys general complained in the court document. “The Elections EO is unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American.”
A White House spokesman called the proof-of-citizenship requirement “common sense” and called complaints from Democrats “insane.”
In addition to the attorneys general, the March executive order has been challenged in court by the Democratic National Committee; State Democracy Defenders Fund; Campaign Legal Center; Democratic Governors Association; Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; Democratic House Senatorial Campaign; U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer; and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
While it is true election laws are set by state legislatures, it is also true many Republicans sincerely believe Democrats routinely cheat in elections and have no plan to stop doing so.
On the issue of citizen-only voting, Democrats have not helped their case with their permissive stance on illegal immigration, even going so far as refusing to ever use the term “illegal” publicly. Democrats have also passed laws to permit non-citizens to vote, such as city elections in Vermont and Maryland, for example, and school board races in San Francisco and Oakland, California.
During the Biden administration, the wide-open U.S.-Mexico border was viewed by many Republicans as a welcome mat for 12 million future citizens, who could eventually win the right to vote in federal elections and reward those who let them stay.
The executive order signed by President Trump gives the Department of Homeland Security access to state voter rolls and allows DHS to remove illegally registered voters, and prosecute any of those who have actually voted.
Gary Bauer, of American Values, says the issue might be more complicated than Democrats simply want non-citizens to vote. Even though that is true, he says, the attorneys general would be “pretty stupid” to openly admit it in court documents.
“What they may be objecting to is that you have to show proof of identification to prove that you're a citizen,” he says. “And they are willing to die on that hill.”
Looking back at the Nov. 5 election, and Trump’s overwhelming win, Bauer suspects the Democratic Party is desperate to avoid another loss like that in 2028.
