WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump announced that he plans to sign an executive order requiring voter ID in elections across the United States.
“Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!! Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY!!! President DJT”
At the beginning of his second term, Trump signed an executive order to impose voter ID laws to overhaul elections in the U.S.
In April, a federal judge blocked parts of Trump’s executive order on voting in elections.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an injunction for Sections 2(a) and 2(d) of the executive order titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections.”
Section 2(a) ordered the Election Assistance Commission, an agency with a stated mission of helping Americans participate in the voting process, to require documentary proof of citizenship. Section 2(d) required the head of each federal voter registration agency to assess citizenship before providing a voter registration form to participants in public assistance programs.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, writing in a memorandum opinion for three consolidated cases against Trump and the Executive Office of the President, said the executive order would harm the federal agencies it is directed at.
“The plaintiffs have also shown that implementation of Sections 2(a) and 2(d) by the Election Assistance Commission and other federal agencies would cause them irreparable harm and would not be in the public interest,” Kollar-Kotelly said, with the plaintiffs being the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the League of Women Voters Education Fund. “As a result, they are entitled to a preliminary injunction against that implementation.”
Trump said in the executive order that the U.S. “largely relies on self-attestation” to prove citizenship for voting, noting the country doesn’t enforce basic and necessary “election protections” employed by developed nations.
Kollar-Kotelly wrote that the defendants’ “threshold arguments” falter when pitted against the plaintiffs’ challenges.
“And on the merits, the plaintiffs are substantially likely to prevail: Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the States—not the President—with the authority to regulate federal elections,” the judge said.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told The National News Desk (TNND) in April that Trump will keep fighting for “election integrity” despite Democratic objections that “reveal their disdain for commonsense safeguards like verifying citizenship.”
“Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our Constitutional Republic, and we’re confident in securing an ultimate victory in the courtroom,” Fields added.
Editor’s Note:The National News Desk’s Ray Lewis contributed to this story.