President’s executive order threatens to disenfranchise eligible voters, violates state authority over elections
Attorney General Kathy Jennings on Friday joined a coalition of 24 states in filing a federal lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s unlawful Executive Order to restrict voter eligibility and mail voting to lists of voters pre-authorized by the federal government, interfering with states’ constitutional authority to administer elections.
“The President’s obsession with the myth of stolen elections, and his growing anxiety over how to control his unpopularity, is embarrassing, dangerous, and unconstitutional,” said Attorney General Jennings. “Elections are the duty of the States because the Founders had the foresight to anticipate a president who would try to be a king: one who would let his narcissism, dishonesty, and erratic whims come before his patriotism. Attorneys general around the country knew that this President would once again try to tamper with the election. We have been prepared for this, and we will never stand down from the fight to protect this most sacred right.”
“We will always fight back against federal overreach, protect every voter’s right to cast a ballot, and defend the authority of states to run free and fair elections without interference,” said Governor Matt Meyer.
On March 31, President Trump signed an Executive Order attempting to establish a national list of eligible voters and directing the U.S. Postal Service, an independent federal agency, to transmit mail ballots only to those on the list. The President threatens states and elections officials with criminal prosecution and the loss of federal funding if they do not comply with his demands. The coalition argues that the Order would require states to act contrary to their own voter roll procedures, vote-by-mail systems, and voter registration laws.
The U.S. Constitution gives states the primary authority to administer elections. In contrast, the Constitution does not allow the President to unilaterally impose changes to federal election procedures—least of all without an Act of Congress.
State and federal law entitle all eligible voters to cast ballots and to have their votes counted in state and federal elections. The plaintiff states permit registered voters to cast their ballots by mail if they meet their state’s requirements for doing so. Voters of all parties, in all states, and of every demographic utilize mail-in voting – including the President himself.
The administration of elections is highly complex and requires substantial planning and preparation. The coalition argues that the President’s Executive Order would require states to dismantle their existing election administration procedures for upcoming elections and rush to conduct new statewide voter education – within weeks of many states’ primary elections and mere months before the beginning of mail voting for the general election. The coalition argues that such drastic and sudden changes will create confusion, chaos, and distrust in state election systems, all while threatening to disenfranchise eligible voters.
The states allege that the President’s Executive Order violates the separation of powers and unlawfully interferes with states’ mail voting programs. The coalition asks the court to prevent the federal government from implementing or enforcing the Executive Order.
This is the latest in a series of actions AG Jennings has taken to protect voting rights in Delaware, from protecting permanent absentee and early voting to suing to block the sabotage of the USPS ahead of the 2020 election.
In addition to AG Jennings, the coalition is comprised of the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the Governor of Pennsylvania