Clinton-Appointed Judge Agrees Trump’s Order Requiring Citizenship To Vote Hurts Democrats

A Clinton-appointed judge on Thursday agreed with plaintiffs that President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring proof of citizenship to vote would hurt the Democratic Party.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly — appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton — blocked Trump’s order directing state officials to require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and conditioning federal funding on whether or not each state requires voter ID. In her 120-page ruling, the judge argued that the Democratic Party showed “substantial likelihood” that requiring proof of citizenship would hurt their voter registration efforts.

“First, many of the Democratic Party Plaintiffs have organizational standing to challenge this provision based on its effect on their ability to register new voters as members and supporters of the Democratic Party, which they do in service of their mission of electing Democratic candidates to office throughout the country,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote, according to court documents.

“The , , , and have each shown that the implementation of would make it more difficult for them to register voters who are likely to support Democratic candidates, forcing them to divert additional resources toward further voter registration efforts,” the judge continued.

Kollar-Kotelly went on to say that the Democratic Party’s expenditure on additional resources would negatively affect investments in other “time-sensitive, election-related activities” that they would otherwise make.

Trump signed the executive order on March 26, directing states to require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and following through on campaign promises to bolster election security.