In a significant legal development, a federal judge in Seattle has put a halt to the majority of President Donald Trump’s executive order concerning elections, affecting the vote-by-mail systems in Washington and Oregon. This decision marks another setback for Trump, who has advocated for strict measures such as requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voting and ensuring ballots are received by Election Day.
U.S. District Judge John H. Chun ruled that these mandates overstepped the boundaries of presidential authority. This decision echoes similar verdicts from cases in Massachusetts, involving 19 states, and in Washington, D.C., where Democratic and civil rights groups had contested the order.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown celebrated the court’s decision, stating, “Today’s ruling is a huge victory for voters in Washington and Oregon, and for the rule of law. The court enforced the long-standing constitutional rule that only States and Congress can regulate elections, not the Election Denier-in-Chief.”
The executive order, which was introduced in March, sought to impose requirements for voters to present documentary proof of citizenship when registering and insisted that mail-in ballots be received by Election Day. It also threatened to withdraw federal funding from states that did not comply with these stipulations.
Both Oregon and Washington, which currently accept ballots postmarked by Election Day, argued that the executive order could potentially disenfranchise thousands of voters. In the 2024 general election, Washington counted nearly 120,000 ballots that arrived after Election Day but were postmarked in time, while Oregon processed nearly 14,000 such ballots.
Judge Chun highlighted that Trump’s directives infringed upon the separation of powers principle. He affirmed that the authority to regulate federal elections is constitutionally vested in Congress and the states, not the executive branch.
Oregon and Washington said they sued separately from other states because, as exclusively vote-by-mail states, they faced particular harms from the executive order.
Trump and other Republicans have promoted the idea that large numbers of people who were not U.S. citizens might be voting. However, voting by noncitizens is rare and, when they are caught, they can face felony charges and deportation.
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