{"id":6372,"date":"2026-05-15T11:31:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6372"},"modified":"2026-05-15T11:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:31:59","slug":"lawyers-urge-judge-to-block-trump-order-that-would-create-eligible-voter-list-limit-mail-ballots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6372","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers urge judge to block Trump order that would create eligible voter list, limit mail ballots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and NICHOLAS RICCARDI<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he issued an executive order to restrict voters\u2019 ability to cast ballots by mail, attorneys for Democrats and civil rights groups told a federal judge on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Read more Southwest pilot says landing at JWA aborted because of small plane<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols didn\u2019t rule from the bench on the plaintiffs\u2019 request for an order blocking officials from implementing Trump\u2019s March 31 order, his second related to elections since winning his second term in the White House. The case is one of multiple lawsuits filed to block the order on the grounds that only states and Congress, and not the president, are given power under the Constitution to decide how elections are run.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s initial executive order to revamp elections by requiring documentary proof of citizenship, issued last year, was largely halted by multiplefederal judges on similar grounds. He issued his latest order only after the voting bill he backed stalled in Congress. The current legal fight comes as the country is in the midst of primary elections and election officials are preparing for the intricacies of holding the fall\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the time pressure here,\u201d said Nichols, who questioned both sides but gave no clear indication of which way he\u2019s leaning.<\/p>\n

The president can\u2019t rewrite election rules to give himself and the Republican Party a partisan advantage, the plaintiffs\u2019 attorneys said. They argued that the executive order\u2019s requirements are illegal and designed to coerce states into limiting voter registration and ballot access.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is harming our clients every day in the middle of an election season,\u201d said Orion Nevers, an attorney representing the NAACP.<\/p>\n

Democrats are more likely to vote by mail. Since even before his 2020 loss, Trump has falsely implied there is mass fraud involved in the practice and fought to curtail it, even after his baseless claims led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and were repeatedly debunked by audits and reviews, including some run by Republicans.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Since returning to office, Trump has said he wants Republicans to \u201ctake over\u201d elections in Democratic areas and launched investigations of the 2020 vote.<\/p>\n

Read more Armed man shot by police at end of pursuit in Beaumont awarded $3.62 million by jury<\/a><\/p>\n

His latest executive order calls on the Department of Homeland Security to make a list of eligible voters in each state and seeks to prohibit the U.S. Postal Service from sending absentee ballots to those not on each state\u2019s approved list.<\/p>\n

The administration is asking the judge to dismiss the plaintiffs\u2019 claims. Justice Department attorney Stephen Pezzi on Thursday suggested that the litigation is premature, calling it \u201cshadowboxing\u201d for the plaintiffs to challenge a list that hasn\u2019t yet been created.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little hard to address these questions in the abstract,\u201d Pezzi said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Nichols, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, asked Pezzi why it would be lawful to disseminate the list to states.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be the plaintiffs\u2019 burden to explain why it\u2019s unlawful,\u201d Pezzi replied. \u201cI don\u2019t mean to be cute with that answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s executive order requires federal agencies to compile a list of adults the U.S. government has purportedly \u201cconfirmed\u201d to be U.S. citizens and to share it with each state at least 60 days before each federal election.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t a way to lawfully compile it,\u201d said Lalitha Madduri, an attorney for Democratic Party plaintiffs.<\/p>\n

Danielle Lang, who represents the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the executive order is aimed at creating \u201cthe maximum amount of chaos and confusion\u201d for local election officials.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump and Xi wrap up summit claiming progress stabilizing US-China relations as differences persist<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey need clear direction,\u201d Lang said.<\/p>\n

Riccardi reported from Denver.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawyers for the groups made their arguments Thursday during a hearing before a federal judge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLawyers urge judge to block Trump order that would create eligible voter list, limit mail ballots - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6372\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawyers urge judge to block Trump order that would create eligible voter list, limit mail ballots - 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