…legal experts say the order exceeds #Trump’s power because the Constitution gives states the authority to set the “times, places & manner” of #elections, with #Congress allowed to set rules for elections to federal office. As Friday’s ruling states, the #Constitution makes no provision for presidents to set the rules for elections.

Oregon & Washington, which conduct their #elections almost entirely by mail, filed a separate lawsuit over the #ballot deadline, saying the #ExecutiveOrder could disenfranchise voters in their #states. When the lawsuit was filed, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs noted that more than 300,000 ballots in the state arrived after Election Day in 2024.

The order also would require #states to exclude any mail-in or absentee ballots received after Election Day & puts states’ federal #funding at risk if #election officials don’t comply. Currently, 18 states & Puerto Rico accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

#Trump has said his #ExecutiveOrder *secures* elections against illegal voting by noncitizens, though multiple studies & investigations in the #states have shown that it’s exceedingly rare & typically a mistake. Casting a ballot as a noncitizen is already against the #law & can result in fines & #deportation if convicted.

The order is the culmination of Trump’s longstanding complaints about #elections. After his first win in 2016, #Trump falsely claimed his popular vote total would have been much higher if not for “millions of people who voted illegally.” Since 2020, Trump has made false claims of widespread voter fraud & manipulation of voting machines to explain his loss to Democrat Joe #Biden. [when really he’s just a sore loser]

Casper cited arguments made by the #states that the requirements would “burden the States with significant efforts & substantial costs” to update procedures.

The ruling is the second #legal setback for #Trump’s election order. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., previously blocked parts of the directive, including the proof-of-#citizenship requirement for the federal #VoterRegistration form.

“The #Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over #elections,” Judge Casper wrote.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282905/gov.uscourts.mad.282905.107.0.pdf

Casper also noted that, when it comes to #citizenship, “there is no dispute (nor could there be) that U.S. citizenship is required to vote in federal elections & the federal voter registration forms require attestation of citizenship.”

The #state AGs said the directive “usurps the States’ #constitutional #power & seeks to amend #ElectionLaw by fiat.” The #Trump admin defended the order as “standing up for free, fair & honest elections” & called proof of citizenship a “commonsense” requirement.

Judge Denise J. Casper of the US District Court in Massachusetts said in Friday’s order that the #states had a likelihood of success as to their #legal challenges.

#Trump’s March 25 #ExecutiveOrder sought to compel officials to require documentary proof of citizenship for everyone registering to #vote for federal #elections [you already must be a citizen], accept only mailed ballots received by Election Day & condition federal #election grant funding on #states adhering to the new #ballot deadline.

The ruling, filed w/the court clerk on Mon, will require Mayes to assemble a grand jury to present the case along with a copy of the #ElectoralCountAct, attys said. The initial presentation of her case took weeks. Mayes plans to appeal to try to get the prosecution back on track.

“We vehemently disagree with the court, & we will file a special action to appeal the ruling,” Mayes spox said.

Among those who were indicted were White House chief of staff #MarkMeadows, attorneys #RudyGiuliani, #JohnEastman & #ChristinaBobb, top campaign adviser #BorisEpshteyn & former campaign aide #MikeRoman. The grand jury accused them of unsuccessfully trying to award the state’s electoral votes to #Trump instead of #Biden even though Biden won the popular vote there.

An #Arizona grand jury last year indicted 18 people as part of the effort to reverse Joe #Biden’s 2020 presidential win in the state, including 7 attorneys & aides affiliated with #Trump’s national campaign & 11 Arizona #Republicans, including some who sought to act as fake presidential electors.

“We are extremely pleased with the court’s ruling, & we think the judge got it exactly right,” said Stephen Binhak, the attorney who spearheaded the effort to get the case back to a grand jury.

The decision is a major setback for #Arizona AG Kris Mayes (D), who promised to appeal the ruling so she could keep the prosecution going.

#MaricopaCounty Superior Court Judge Sam J. Myers sided w/ #Republicans & found that prosecutors failed to provide the grand jury w/the text of an 1887 federal #law that is central to the Republicans’ defense. The #law, known as the #ElectoralCountAct, spells out how presidential electoral votes are to be cast & counted.

#Georgia #Republicans said they want to replace the system when the current contract expires in 2028, but their #law is still scheduled to take effect next year. #GOP state Rep Victor Anderson said there is no realistic way to “prevent the train wreck that’s coming.”

The Secy of State said the voting system follows #Georgia #law, which requires federal certification at the time the system is bought. Nevertheless, the #Republican-controlled legislature has voted to ban the use of QR codes but did not allocate any money to make the change—a cost estimated at $66M.