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 [Democratic National Committee], [Democrat Governors Association], [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee], and [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] have each shown that the implementation of [the executive order] 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.
“We’re going to fix our elections so that our elections are going to be honorable and honest and people leave and they know their vote is counted,” the president said in a prepared statement about the order. “We are going to have free and fair elections.”
“And ideally, we go to paper ballots, same-day voting, proof of citizenship, very big, and voter ID, very simple,” he continued.
The Democratic National Committee, the League of United Latin American Citizens and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sued the Trump administration in the D.C. circuit challenging the order, ultimately leading to Kollar-Kotelly’s Thursday ruling.
Democrats have vehemently opposed GOP efforts requiring proof of citizenship to vote. Earlier in April, only four Democratic lawmakers voted in favor of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, legislation introduced by Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy that calls for stricter regulations to ensure only U.S. citizens are participating in federal elections.
The White House’s immigration agenda and other top policy priorities have faced fierce resistance in the courtroom.
The Thursday ruling against Trump’s executive order came on the same day U.S. District Judge William Orrick — appointed to the bench in California by President Barack Obama — blocked a pair of other executive orders signed by Trump that sought to deny federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions.
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