Trump’s new Executive Order to change voting procedures

Editor’s Note: On April 10, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 22, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. The legislation goes to the Senate next. If passed, it would require people to prove that they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote. Republicans argued the legislation, is necessary to ensure only citizens vote in U.S. elections.

On March 25, President Donald Trump signed an executive order affecting voting regulations throughout the country. The first part will require documentary, government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship on its voter registration form issued by the Election Assistance Commission.

On the next day, California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta offered the following comments on Trump’s EO. “Yet again, President Trump is grasping for straws. He cannot, by executive order, impose these voting restrictions. He lacks that authority — period. My office stands ready to hold President Trump accountable. No matter how he tries to spin it, elections in California and across the country — in blue and red states alike — are secure. Voter fraud is largely a figment of his imagination.”

It’s already illegal under federal law for people who are not U.S. citizens to cast ballots and can lead to felony charges and deportation.

Nine days later, Bonta and a coalition of 19 state attorney generals filed a lawsuit opposing this EO because it is “…an unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American attempt to impose sweeping voting restrictions across the country.”

Their lawsuit claims “…the power to regulate elections is reserved to the States and Congress, and that therefore, the Elections Executive Order is …beyond the scope of presidential power, and violative of the separation of powers.”

In the press release announcing the litigation, Bonta said, “My fellow attorneys general and I are taking him to court because this Executive Order is nothing but a blatantly illegal power grab and an attempt to disenfranchise voters. Neither the Constitution nor Congress authorize the President’s attempted voting restrictions. We will not be bullied by him. We will fight like hell in court to stop him.”

The first objection is over the requirement that the independent Election Assistance Commission require documentary proof of citizenship on the Federal mail registration form. In their lawsuit, the attorneys general stress that Congress has never required documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote using the Federal Form. 

Secondly, the attorneys general object to Trump’s requirement that all ballots be counted by the end of Election Day.

In his EO, Trump took actions to limit the counting of ballots that are received after election day in future elections. Future Federal funding for voting operations will be dependent on compliance with this limitation.

They argue that “members of the multistate coalition have exercised their constitutional and statutory authority to determine how to best receive and count votes that are timely cast by mail in federal elections. Many of the Plaintiff States provide for the counting of timely absentee and mail ballots received after Election Day.”

California allows seven days to receive a ballot postmarked by Election Day.

Among the other major objections was the intent to withhold federal funding for noncompliance with the EO. The suit claims this is a violation of our federalism and separation of powers.

The other states joining California in this litigation are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

The U.S. constitution generally leaves voting rules to the States. In Article I, Section 4: Elections, it states “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing [sic] Senators.”

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act requires individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and prohibits states from accepting and processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. 

The bill specifies what documents are considered acceptable proof of U.S. citizenship, such as identification that complies with the REAL ID Act of 2005 that indicates U.S. citizenship.

Each state must establish a program to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote and states must remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters.