Democrats sue over Trump executive order on voting, citing states' rights

Sen. Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats said Tuesday they have sued President Donald Trump over his executive order to require states to further prove citizenship in registering voters and to make other changes to elections.

The top New York congressional leaders and other Democrats called Trump’s executive order an "unconstitutional power grab."

At issue in the conflict over Trump’s March 25 executive order and a related Republican bill introduced in Congress last week is a states’ rights clause in the U.S. Constitution. That provision states: "The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature." The provision, however, also states Congress "may at any time by law make or alter such regulations."

Trump’s executive order argues that states "largely" rely on inadequate "self-attestation for citizenship." He also seeks to curb the increasingly popular practice of "mass voting by mail."

Trump’s order also threatens to "cease providing federal funds to states that do not comply."

In New York State, however, noncitizens already are prohibited from voting. The state relies on the registrant declaring their U.S. citizenship under penalty of perjury. Applicants also must provide a Social Security number and standard driver’s license, permit or nondriver identification.

The Campaign Legal Center, an independent watchdog group based in Washington, said Trump’s order is an unlawful "overreach" that "threatens to uproot our tried-and-tested election systems and silence potentially millions of Americans," according to a statement by the center’s Danielle Lang.

"The president doesn’t get to make his own laws," said Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice's Voting Rights and Elections Program at New York University School of Law. The center is part of another lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive order.

"States get to make those decisions; Congress may make those decisions," he said in a presentation over Zoom Tuesday. "But the president doesn’t get to do those things."

The Democrats’ lawsuit claims Trump’s executive order is "an attempt to rationalize their repeatedly debunked conspiracy theories and set the groundwork to throw out legal votes and ignore election outcomes they do not like."

The lawsuit claims Trump’s order also would make it more difficult for military voters overseas to cast ballots, hinder married spouses who changed their name to that of their spouse, and provide Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency run by billionaire Elon Musk "sensitive personal information ... without any consent or statutory authority."

Trump’s order mirrors a Republican congressional bill called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. The SAVE Act, however, faces an uncertain future in the House and Senate, where Republicans have only narrow majorities.

Last week, state Attorney General Letitia James and 17 attorneys general in other states urged congressional leaders to reject the SAVE Act. The attorneys general said in a letter that the proposal would require further regulations to prove the citizenship of voters, and disenfranchise millions of voters who feared retaliation even for their legal immigrant status and voters who changed their names to match their spouses’ last names but had inadequate proof of legally changing their name.

"The so-called SAVE Act would disproportionately impact communities of color, low-income individuals, and other vulnerable populations to create a dangerous precedent," James said in a written statement.

Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group noted there are few proven cases of election fraud.

"It’s a sound bite that distracts people from the real problem in elections, which is low voter turnout," Horner said in an interview.

A White House spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Republicans in the State Senate and Assembly minority conferences have proposed several bills in recent years that would require more proof of citizenship in registering to vote, but the bills have been opposed by Democratic majorities. The current bill by Assemb. Eric “Ari” Brown (R-Cedarhurst) would require people seeking to register to vote to prove their citizenship with government documents. That proof also would be required when voting.

In New York, people registering to vote must provide a New York State driver's license, permit or nondriver ID, their current ZIP code that matches the ZIP code on file with the state, and a Social Security number.

Noncitizens may obtain Social Security numbers, but only if they are authorized to work by the federal Department of Homeland Security.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.