“See You in Court”: Blue States Trash Trump’s Mail-In Voting Order

Source: The New Republic · Bias: Left

Summary

Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail-in voting is already being challenged by states, while election experts say it’s dead on arrival. Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requiring the Department of Homeland Security to partner with the Social Security Administration to assemble a list of verified U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. The order also directs the U.S. Postal Service to bar anyone not included on these lists from receiving a mail-in or absentee ballot. Mail ballots are required to be packaged in special envelopes with trackable barcodes.The order also empowered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate states and localities that give ballots to ineligible voters.Trump called the order “foolproof” while signing it Tuesday evening, but states are already fighting back, Time reported Wednesday. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows called the order “laughably unconstitutional,” and promised there was no way her state would “obey in advance.” Despite Trump’s calls for Republicans to nationalize elections, the U.S. Constitution empowers states to run their own elections. Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar also condemned the order, claiming it was just another attempt by Trump to undermine free and fair elections. “The President has spent years attempting to manufacture a crisis around mail voting when there is none. Any claims that there is widespread fraud in our elections are false and create chaos and confusion for voters in the middle of an election year,” he said in a statement.Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes released a statement calling the order a “disgusting overreach” to “weaponize the sensitive information of voters in this country.”Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read called the order a “desperate, illegal power grab,” adding, “My message to the president: We’ll see you in court.”Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, also announced his intention to challenge the order. “We know where this will go—the targeting of Democrats for mass disenfranchisement. We will sue and we will win,” he wrote on X. Others election experts had a more laissez-faire attitude. David Becker, executive director for the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said that Trump’s order was a total nonstarter. “Some may freak out about this, but honestly, this is hilarious,” Becker told MS NOW. “He might as well sign an EO banning gravity.”It’s worth noting that Trump recently voted by mail in a Palm Beach election won by a Democrat. Trump’s executive order comes as Republicans are attempting to pass the SAVE America Act, which would prohibit universal mail-in voting. Under the new legislation, voters would have to submit an application to receive a mail-in ballot.

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“See You in Court”: Blue States Trash Trump’s Mail-In Voting Order
The New Republic

“See You in Court”: Blue States Trash Trump’s Mail-In Voting Order

Left

Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail-in voting is already being challenged by states, while election experts say it’s dead on arrival. Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requiring the Department of Homeland Security to partner with the Social Security Administration to assemble a list of verified U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. The order also directs the U.S. Postal Service to bar anyone not included on these lists from receiving a mail-in or absentee ballot. Mail ballots are required to be packaged in special envelopes with trackable barcodes.The order also empowered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate states and localities that give ballots to ineligible voters.Trump called the order “foolproof” while signing it Tuesday evening, but states are already fighting back, Time reported Wednesday. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows called the order “laughably unconstitutional,” and promised there was no way her state would “obey in advance.” Despite Trump’s calls for Republicans to nationalize elections, the U.S. Constitution empowers states to run their own elections. Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar also condemned the order, claiming it was just another attempt by Trump to undermine free and fair elections. “The President has spent years attempting to manufacture a crisis around mail voting when there is none. Any claims that there is widespread fraud in our elections are false and create chaos and confusion for voters in the middle of an election year,” he said in a statement.Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes released a statement calling the order a “disgusting overreach” to “weaponize the sensitive information of voters in this country.”Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read called the order a “desperate, illegal power grab,” adding, “My message to the president: We’ll see you in court.”Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, also announced his intention to challenge the order. “We know where this will go—the targeting of Democrats for mass disenfranchisement. We will sue and we will win,” he wrote on X. Others election experts had a more laissez-faire attitude. David Becker, executive director for the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said that Trump’s order was a total nonstarter. “Some may freak out about this, but honestly, this is hilarious,” Becker told MS NOW. “He might as well sign an EO banning gravity.”It’s worth noting that Trump recently voted by mail in a Palm Beach election won by a Democrat. Trump’s executive order comes as Republicans are attempting to pass the SAVE America Act, which would prohibit universal mail-in voting. Under the new legislation, voters would have to submit an application to receive a mail-in ballot.

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