The United States Democratic Party has called on a US court to block President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at overhauling the election system, arguing that it could disenfranchise eligible voters.
In a lawsuit filed in Washington, DC federal court, the Democratic National Committee claimed that Trump overstepped his authority with the March 25 executive order. The order requires voters to prove their US citizenship, prohibits states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day, and threatens to withhold federal funding from states that do not comply.
The lawsuit, filed by prominent Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias and his team, argues that the executive order proposes drastic changes to voter registration, ballot casting, and democratic participation, all of which could harm eligible voters and are legally questionable.
Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, leaders of the Democratic minorities in the Senate and House, are also plaintiffs in the case.
The Trump administration has previously argued that the executive order is intended to prevent foreign interference in US elections. Trump has repeatedly claimed that his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden was due to widespread voter fraud, a claim that has been widely discredited. The president and his Republican supporters have also made allegations about illegal voting by non-citizens, a rare occurrence.
In their lawsuit, the Democrats emphasized that the US Constitution grants states and Congress the authority to determine how federal elections are conducted, not the president.
“The Framers of our federal Constitution anticipated that power-hungry leaders might seek to corrupt our democratic system,” the lawsuit stated.
In addition, voting rights groups such as the Campaign Legal Center and State Democracy Defenders Fund have filed a separate legal challenge to the executive order.