U.S. District Judge Colleen Koller Kotelly in Washington, D.C., was the first to issue a final ruling on Trump’s executive order.
President Trump signs executive order requiring proof of citizenship
President Trump signed an executive order creating new voter identification requirements, a move expected to face legal challenges.
NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday permanently blocked part of Republican President Donald Trump’s executive order, ruling that the president cannot require voters to show passports or similar documents as proof of citizenship before voting.
Several lawsuits have challenged the president’s March 25 executive order overhauling federal elections, and courts have already temporarily blocked it from taking effect. U.S. District Judge Colleen Koller Kotelly in Washington, D.C., was the first to issue a final ruling on the executive order.
Koller-Kotely permanently blocked the portion of the executive order that required proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. The justices had previously refused to block a portion of the executive order barring states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day.
The ruling followed a lawsuit by groups including the Democratic National Committee, the United League of Latin American Citizens, and the Federation of Women Voters Educational Funds.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the League of Women Voters in the lawsuit, said Friday that Americans without a current passport do not need to purchase new documents to exercise their rights.
“While we celebrate this victory, we remain vigilant and will continue to fight to ensure that all voters have their voices heard without interference or intimidation,” said Sophia Lynn Lakin of the ACLU. “No president can circumvent the Constitution and make voting difficult.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
The executive order called on bipartisan federal election agencies to amend the standardized national voter registration form to require documents such as passports as proof of citizenship.
Koller-Kotely found parts of the order illegal because the U.S. Constitution gives states, not the president, the power to oversee elections.
Trump has long questioned the U.S. election system, falsely claiming that his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud. President Trump and his Republican allies have also made unsubstantiated claims about widespread voting by noncitizens, which is illegal and rare.
