PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes today joined a coalition of 19 states in filing a lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the federal Election Assistance Commission, and other Trump Administration officials over Executive Order No. 14248 (the Elections Executive Order), an unconstitutional, anti-democratic, and un-American attempt to impose sweeping voting restrictions across the country.
Among other things, the Elections Executive Order attempts to conscript State election officials in the President’s campaign to override our elections system. It also seeks to upend common-sense, well-established State procedures for counting ballots — procedures that make it easier for peoples’ voices to be heard.
“This EO is an unacceptable and unconstitutional intrusion on the rights of states and the power of Congress by an out-of-control executive branch hellbent on destroying 250 years of precedent,” said Attorney General Mayes. “Clearly, Trump only supports state's rights when it suits him.”
The President has no constitutional power to rewrite State election laws by decree, nor does the President have the authority to modify the rules Congress has created for elections. The coalition’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, explains that the power to regulate elections is reserved to the States and Congress, and that therefore, the Elections Executive Order is ultra vires, beyond the scope of presidential power, and violative of the separation of powers. The attorneys general ask the court to block the challenged provisions of the Elections Executive Order and declare them unconstitutional and void.
"If President Trump wanted to make laws then he should have run for congress where the U.S. Constitution says that work is done," said Secretary of State Fontes. "The Constitution also says elections belong to the states. If the President wants to reshape our elections, he must propose realistic bipartisan legislation in Congress instead of forcing states into unfunded mandates through unlawful executive orders.”
In their lawsuit, the attorneys general assert that provisions of the Elections Executive Order will cause imminent and irreparable harm to the States if they are not enjoined. The challenged provisions include:
Commanding "the head of each Federal voter registration executive department or agency (agency) under the National Voter Registration Act, 52 U.S.C. 20506(a)” to begin implementing aspects of the Executive Order. This aspect of the Elections Executive Order commandeers State agencies and their personnel, forcing States to participate in the President’s unlawful and unnecessary agenda.
Forcing States to alter their ballot counting laws to exclude “absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day.” In Arizona, voted ballots must be received by 7pm on Election Day in order to be counted. However, this Elections Executive Order could impact the ability to cure ballots under Arizona law.
Requiring military and overseas voters to submit documentary proof of citizenship and eligibility to vote in state elections. The Federal Post Card Application form is used by voters in the military or living abroad to register to vote in federal elections. Federal law unequivocally grants them the ability to register and cast a ballot “in the last place in which the person was domiciled before leaving the United States” — there is no requirement that this form demand documentary proof of citizenship or proof of current eligibility to vote in a particular state.
Threatening to withhold various streams of federal funding to the States for purported noncompliance with the challenged provisions. In so doing, the Elections Executive Order seeks to control Plaintiff States’ exercise of their sovereign powers through raw Executive domination, contrary to the U.S. Constitution and its underlying principles of federalism and the separation of powers.
In filing today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Kris Mayes joins the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The litigation was led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford.
A copy of the complaint can be found here.