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A federal judge on Friday barred President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing an executive order that would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, ruling that the president overstepped his constitutional authority.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said Trump’s directive violated the separation of powers, siding with Democratic and civil rights groups that challenged the policy.
“Because our Constitution assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress, this Court holds that the President lacks the authority to direct such changes,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote in her opinion. “The Constitution assigns no direct role to the President in either domain.”
The ruling permanently blocks the U.S. Election Assistance Commission from adding a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form.
Sophia Lin Lakin of the ACLU, one of the plaintiffs in the case, called the decision “a clear victory for our democracy,” saying Trump’s order was “an unconstitutional power grab.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s proof-of-citizenship mandate was a key element of his election overhaul plan, framed by allies as essential to ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote. But critics said it would disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters and inject confusion into election administration nationwide.
Similar efforts at the state level have run into major legal and logistical challenges. In Kansas, a proof-of-citizenship law was struck down after blocking roughly 30,000 eligible voters from registering. A recent rollout in New Hampshire caused delays for married women who had changed their names, requiring them to produce multiple forms of documentation.
Noncitizen voting, multiple studies have found, remains exceedingly rare.
While the DNC-led lawsuit succeeded in halting the proof-of-citizenship provision, other portions of Trump’s executive order remain under review — including a rule requiring that mailed ballots be received, rather than postmarked, by Election Day.
Separately, 19 Democratic attorneys general and several states, including Washington and Oregon, have filed lawsuits seeking to strike down other elements of Trump’s election directive.
