On Friday, in response to the Democratic Party’s lawsuit, a federal judge permanently blocked several key provisions of Trump’s illegal executive order and sharply rebuked the President for his unconstitutional power grab. In the words of the judge, “our Constitution does not allow the President to impose unilateral changes to federal election procedures.” 

The newly enjoined provisions, if left unchallenged, would have suppressed the voting rights of members of the military, as well as Medicaid and SNAP recipients. This follows an October ruling in which a federal judge blocked the order’s lead provision, which would have upended voter registration procedures and made it more difficult for married women who’ve changed their names to register to vote.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DNC Chair Ken Martin, DGA Chair Andy Beshear, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, and DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene released the following statement:  

“This court decision is a decisive victory for our democracy and a clear rebuke of Donald Trump’s un-American and illegal power grab. Democrats prevailed because we are on the right side of the law and on the side of the American people. While Trump attempts to silence voters because they are rejecting his failed policies that raise costs and strip away health care, Democrats are using every tool at our disposal to fight back.”

Read more below:

Courthouse News: Federal judge blocks Trump’s new voter registration requirements

[By Ryan Knappenberger]

• A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from unilaterally imposing a series of new requirements for citizens registering to vote or applying for an absentee ballot, slamming President Donald Trump for clearly overstepping his constitutional authority.

• Her order specifically blocks the Trump administration from enforcing Section 2(d) of the order, which directed agency heads to “assess citizenship” before providing voter registration forms to “enrollees of public assistance programs.”

• The Democrats — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — and voter rights groups challenged Trump’s March 25 executive order, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” on March 31, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

• They challenged it as an effort by the president to impose his own “design preferences” on congressionally mandated voter registration forms and wrongfully “wields federal dollars as a cudgel” to force compliance among the states.

• Friday’s decision comes as the Trump administration has pursued other avenues to strong-arm states into adopting its concerns surrounding the 2020 election, including 24 lawsuits against states and D.C. to obtain their voter rolls, as well as an FBI raid on Georgia’s Fulton County Election and Operations Hub.

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