Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper issued a preliminary injunction blocking key provisions of President Trump’s executive order aimed at securing federal elections by requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to vote.
The executive order, officially titled Executive Order No. 14248, was intended to plug the gaping holes in America’s voter registration system, which currently allows individuals to vote in federal elections with nothing more than a signed statement affirming their citizenship — no ID, no birth certificate, no passport.
But Judge Casper, siding with liberal Attorneys General from 14 Democrat-led states, ruled that Trump’s common-sense order was “likely unlawful and unconstitutional.”
The injunction now bars enforcement of the order’s five most critical provisions — including the requirement that:
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Proof of Citizenship for Federal Voter Registration: The court blocked Section 2(a) of the order, which required the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to mandate documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form and for states to record such proof.
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Military Voting Protections: The ruling blocks Section 3(d), which directed the Secretary of Defense to update the federal postcard application—used by service members and overseas voters—to require proof of citizenship and state voting eligibility.
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Verification at Public Assistance Agencies: Section 2(d) was struck down. It required federal departments providing voter registration services through public assistance programs to verify citizenship before distributing registration forms.
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Enforcement Measures: The judge barred civil or criminal enforcement under Section 7(a) in 13 Democrat-controlled states (including California, Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois) that allow ballots to arrive after Election Day.
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Election Day Deadline Incentives: Finally, Section 7(b), which tied federal election funding to states’ compliance with having a ballot receipt deadline on Election Day, was blocked from being applied to the same 13 “Ballot Receipt States.”
In essence, this activist judge just gave the green light to non-citizens to continue exploiting America’s porous voter registration laws — all while handcuffing states and agencies trying to enforce basic accountability.
The plaintiffs in the case include California, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, and other liberal strongholds — the very states that have fought tooth and nail to block election reform and have extended voting privileges to non-citizens in local elections.
Now, with the federal judiciary’s backing, they’re trying to apply those same disastrous policies at the national level.
More from CBS News:
Casper is the second judge to prevent the Trump administration from implementing provisions of the executive order, which aimed to overhaul U.S. elections. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., agreed in April to issue a preliminary injunction in a trio of cases brought by voting rights groups and the Democratic Party.
“There is no dispute (nor could there be) that U.S. citizenship is required to vote in federal elections and the federal voter registration forms require attestation of citizenship,” Casper wrote. “The issue here is whether the president can require documentary proof of citizenship where the authority for election requirements is in the hands of Congress, its statutes … do not require it, and the statutorily created [Election Assistance Commission] is required to go through a notice and comment period and consult with the states before implementing any changes to the federal forms for voter registration.”
The judge’s decision blocks the Trump administration from implementing five sections of the executive order, including a provision that mandates the Election Assistance Commission, a federal independent regulatory commission, to require documentary proof of citizenship in the standardized national voter registration form and mandates that states record information about the documents presented by voters.
Casper said that the executive order’s instruction for the EAC to add a documentary proof of citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form “conflicts with the will of Congress, rendering the president’s power ‘at its lowest ebb.’” She noted that because the president does not have a constitutional duty to direct the content of election regulations, the executive order’s mandate to the EAC is “undue interference.”
The judge also stopped the Trump administration from implementing Mr. Trump’s directive for the secretary of defense to update a federal application for absentee voting for members of the military and overseas voters to require documentary proof of citizenship and proof of eligibility to vote in federal elections held in their states.
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