NATIONWIDE — A FEDERAL JUDGE on Thursday permanently blocked key portions of President Donald Trump’s executive order attempting to seize control of state voter registration lists and mail-in voting, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, who had filed a lawsuit with 22 other attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania challenging the order. “The president does not have the power to take over state elections or invent new voting restrictions by executive order,” James said in a release.
Trump’s executive order directed states to turn over lists of registered voters to federal agencies under threat of investigation, prosecution, or withholding of federal funds. It also required the United States Postal Service to refuse to deliver mail-in ballots from voters who were not included on the federal voter roll, interfering with states’ mail voting systems.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that key provisions in the executive order “unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers” and declared them void.
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