Court refuses to block Trump order to create federal voter list and limit mail voting

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday declined to halt an executive order President Donald Trump signed in March creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year's midterm vote.

US District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups that had argued Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules.

The decision allows the Trump administration to continue pursuing measures to insert the federal government into the administration of elections that are otherwise managed by the states.

The administration has proposed changes at the Postal Service and having the Homeland Security Department compile state-by-state voter lists using Social Security data and other information drawn from federal databases.

In a 26-page opinion, Nichols wrote that it was premature for the court to intervene. He found that the Trump administration had yet to carry out much of the order, leaving most of the harms predicted by the lawsuit still hypothetical.

He added that if evidence emerged that the changes were burdening state officials or sowing confusion, the Democratic-aligned groups who have sued to block the order could return to court.

The ruling came as the Trump administration has moved aggressively since last year to compile voter roll data at the national level over the objections of state officials and voting rights organizations. Several federal judges have struck down efforts by the administration to request voter information from the states.

A group of Democratic organizations and lawmakers had sued to stop the executive order, arguing that it was a violation of federal privacy law to compile a centralized database of eligible voters and also unlawful interference in state elections to circulate that data among local officials.

The case combined three separate lawsuits brought by groups including the N.A.A.C.P., the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and included Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Senate and House minority leaders.

Nichols' ruling leaves the door open for further challenges when the Trump administration moves to implement the president's directive.

A separate lawsuit seeking to block the executive order is underway in Boston. No matter how rapidly the administration acts, no voting changes are expected during primary elections, which continue into next month.

“The Court recognizes that the Postal Service may ultimately issue a final rule that directly affects Plaintiffs or their members, or that the Government may develop State Citizenship Lists that omit specific individuals due to particularised flaws,” Nichols wrote.

“Plaintiffs may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur. Until then, however, Plaintiffs cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted.”

The Trump administration has yet to formally issue lists of eligible voters and those who filed the initial request for a temporary halt said they'd be back if the administration moves in that direction.

“We are ready to resume the fight if and when the administration takes those next steps,” said Juan Proaño, chief executive officer of the League of United Latin American Citizens, one of the organizations that sought the stay from Nichols.

The order would have had the federal government create a list of eligible voters and then directed the US Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list.

Election officials argued it was ripe for abuse and could cause chaos and the postal union has objected to the idea of mail carriers policing ballots.

Since his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump has groundlessly claimed mail voting is rife with fraud and has launched a federal investigation into that year's vote, even though repeated audits and investigations, including ones run by Republicans, found it was free of widespread fraud.

“Mail-in voting is safe and secure, a hallmark of our free and fair elections,” Schumer said in a statement. “Trump’s order is not about election integrity. It is voter suppression, plain and simple.”

This was Trump's second executive order seeking to overhaul elections and voting. His initial election executive order, issued just months after he took office in his second term, has been blocked by multiple federal judges.

That order sought to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, among other changes.