The League of United Latin American Citizens, known as LULAC, is suing the Trump administration for its sweeping executive order that aims to overhaul U.S. elections, including requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
The lawsuit was filed Monday by the Campaign Legal Center and State Democracy Defenders Fund on behalf of LULAC, Secure Families Initiative and Arizona Students Association, CBS News has learned.
It argues Mr. Trump’s directive “is an attack on the constitutionally mandated checks and balances that keep American elections free and fair” and would “make it far more difficult for eligible U.S. citizens to exercise their fundamental right to vote.”
Last week, the president signed an executive order mandating that the federal form voters use to register to vote must be updated to include the new proof of citizenship requirement.
The order also directs states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls and prohibits states from counting mail and absentee ballots that have been postmarked by Election Day, but received afterward. Some federal funding would be withheld from states that continue counting.
Mr. Trump’s order calls on states to work with federal agencies to share voter lists and prosecute election crimes as the U.S. has failed “to enforce basic and necessary election protections.”
He also directed the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to enforce the citizenship requirement for federal elections. The EAC is an independent and bipartisan commission that oversees the administration of elections across the country and was established by Congress.
“This is different from other moves we’ve seen from the administration to try to interfere with other agencies because the Constitution makes it very clear that the president has no role in setting election rules,” said Jonathan Diaz with the Campaign Legal Center.
The lawsuit argues Mr.Trump lacks the legal authority to make these sweeping changes because the power to regulate federal elections lies with Congress, and under the Constitution, states have the authority to set the “times, places and manner” for elections.
Under the executive order, federal agencies, including the Department of Government Efficiency, would also be granted access to state voter rolls. These agencies would then be required to share data with states upon request, like immigration records or Social Security numbers, to confirm eligibility of the names on their voting rolls.
“It impacts every voter in the country,” said LULAC’s CEO Juan Proaño. “Because of the citizenship question, it would disenfranchise more Latino voters and it will create a chilling effect. It’s a continuation of what we saw in the 2024 election cycle: claims of non-citizens voting.”
Voter fraud by noncitizens — including both lawful immigrant residents and those here illegally — is very rare, experts say, and studies have found no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in previous elections. After the 2016 election, an analysis by the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice found just 30 cases of suspected noncitizens voting reported by election officials, out of 23.5 million votes cast in 42 jurisdictions that were reviewed.
Despite the rarity of citizenship fraud in elections, the president persists in claiming fraud is rampant in U.S. elections. “This country is so sick because of the election, the fake elections and the bad elections, and I’m going to straighten it out one way or the other,” Mr. Trump said upon signing the order, and he promised more election-related actions in the coming weeks.
contributed to this report.
This post was originally published on here
