Federal Appeals Court Blocks Trump’s Effort to Secure Elections with Voter List Order
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The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with liberal states and blocked the Trump administration’s executive order that aimed to ensure election integrity by restricting mail-in ballots to verified citizens for the 2024 elections.
A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Saturday upheld a lower-court ruling that prevents the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order intended to safeguard the integrity of U.S. elections. The order would have established a federal 'state citizenship list' of eligible voters and limited mail-in ballot delivery to those on the list, a commonsense measure to prevent non-citizens from voting. The court’s decision, which favors 23 Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia, comes just months before the November midterm elections.
The order, issued in March, directed the heads of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration to compile a list of eligible citizens and instructed the Postal Service to restrict ballot delivery accordingly. The Trump administration argued that these steps were necessary to protect the sanctity of the vote and prevent fraud by non-citizens.
However, state election officials and Democratic leaders in the suing jurisdictions claimed the order exceeded presidential authority, insisting that election rules are the domain of states and Congress. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, sided with these arguments and issued a preliminary injunction in June, halting the order in the states that filed suit.
The White House and the Justice Department, standing by their commitment to election security, did not respond to requests for comment.