Democrats and civic groups filed a lawsuit over Trump’s order limiting mail-in voting. They claim that the president exceeded his powers.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and other civil society organizations in the US have filed a lawsuit to block President Donald Trump’s executive order to crack down on voting by mail. Complainants say Trump is trying to rewrite election rules in his favor and is overstepping his legal authority, AFP reported Thursday.
- Democrats are suing President Trump over mail-in voting restrictions.
- Trump signed an executive order making it harder to vote by mail.
- The regulation may limit the voting rights of some voters.
- Experts warn against a decrease in voter turnout.
The president signed this executive order on Tuesday. It limits the possibility of voting by mail, which is a widespread method of voting in the USA. However, Trump has long criticized this form of voting and claims, without providing evidence, that Democrats are using it for fraud.
The DNC and other party organizations filed suit in federal court in Washington. In the 64-page document, they say the changes contained in the order “immediately threaten the voting rights of eligible voters” and “clearly exceed the president’s statutory authority.”
Part of the population will be disenfranchised
They also claim that the regulation significantly limits the possibility of voting by mail, while interfering with the powers of individual states of the American Union, which according to the US Constitution have broad competences in organizing elections. Democrats say the new rules are meant to allow mail-in voting only to people on federally maintained citizen lists, which plaintiffs say could lead to political disenfranchisement of some voters.
Experts predict that the implementation of Trump’s executive order would likely lead to a decrease in voter turnout, which could have huge consequences in those parts of the US where elections are decided by very close margins.
The plaintiffs also include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Trump’s executive order followed the GOP’s failure to pass a more sweeping set of voting rights restrictions known as the SAVE America Act.
Public opinion polls suggest that Republicans may lose a narrow majority in the November congressional elections, especially in the House of Representatives (the lower house). Democrats have announced that they will block Trump’s agenda if he wins. They could also reopen the issue of his impeachment (a motion to remove him from office).
