The federal judge has stopped implementing new civil certification requirements for voter registrants.
Citizenship documentary proof for registering for votes, guidelines for the new voting system, and review and recertification of voting machines were just some of the drastic changes mandated by the President’s executive order.
The independent Election Assistance Commission is responsible for enacting these changes.
Meanwhile, at the annual meeting of federal agencies in Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday, members of the committee’s standards committee took questions to the committee members about what it entailed.
Paul Lux, the election supervisor for Okaloosa County, Florida, asked how voting agencies can expect to comply with the new standards if the committee has not yet accredited the system in accordance with current guidelines last revised in 2021.
“And what do they go, increase production, provide voting equipment, provide everything to all 50 states and five regions?” asked Lux.
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Utah election officials questioned how adding a proof of citizenship requirement to the commission’s national postal voter registration form would affect the American community.
The committee members encouraged officials to share their concerns with them.
“Where we are in this process, my goal is to provide the state with minimal disruption to mitigate the impact on you and your voting system,” said Donald Palmer, chairman of the Election Assistance Committee.
“Under the Constitution, state governments must protect American vote rights and protect American elections in compliance with federal laws that prevent the dilution of Americans due to illegal voting, discrimination, fraud, and other forms of fraud and error,” Trump wrote. “However, the United States has not properly enforced federal election requirements, for example, that prohibit states counting votes received after Election Day or prohibiting non-citizens from registering for the ballot.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Federation of Women Voters and the NAACP have said the president’s orders are illegal.
“Only Congress, not the president, can change or replace the state’s procedures that govern federal elections, including the voter registration process. Therefore, it forces states to demand legislative action on demanding evidence of state citizenship,” the organization wrote in a March 27 letter to the Election Assistance Commission.
These voting rights groups and Democrats are challenging executive orders in court, claiming they are covering Trump’s authority as president.
The judge noted that Congress is currently considering legislation that would enact some of the changes the president has directed. “And the statutory delegation of powers to the administrative department does not allow the president to short-circumvent the deliberation process of Congress through executive orders.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
