SEATTLE (AP) 鈥� Washington and Oregon on Friday became the latest states to ask a court to reject President Donald Trump鈥檚 efforts to overhaul elections in the U.S., a day after Democratic officials filed a similar lawsuit.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said the two states sued separately because they conduct elections entirely by mail and would be particularly harmed by the president鈥檚 efforts.
鈥淣either the Constitution nor any federal law gives the president authority to set rules for how states conduct elections,鈥� Brown, a Democrat, said during a news conference. 鈥淚t is the states that decide how voters are registered. It is the states that decide how ballots are counted.鈥�
in U.S. District Court in Seattle is the fifth against since it was issued last week. The new requirements that people provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a demand that all mail ballots be received by Election Day. It also puts states鈥� federal funding at risk if election officials don鈥檛 comply.
That could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters in the Pacific Northwest, where ballots must be postmarked 鈥� but not necessarily received 鈥� by Election Day. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs noted at the news conference that more than 300,000 ballots in Washington arrived after Election Day last year.
鈥淧resident Trump鈥檚 executive order is nothing more than a blatant attempt to rig the system and suppress votes,鈥� Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a news release. 鈥淗e鈥檚 trying to make it harder for people to vote. It鈥檚 a direct assault on the Constitution and a brazen attempt to act like a king, dictating how states should run their elections."
The lawsuits from the states follow against the executive order by nonprofit voting groups and the Democratic National Committee. They say the order could disenfranchise voters because millions of eligible voting-age Americans do not have the proper documents readily available. People already are required to attest to being U.S. citizens, under penalty of perjury, in order to vote.
The lawsuits have said Trump's directive violates the Constitution, which specifies that states have the authority to set the 鈥渢imes, places and manner鈥� of elections. Congress has the power to 鈥渕ake or alter鈥� regulations for elections for president and Congress, but any presidential authority over election administration.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields on Friday called the proof-of-citizenship requirements 鈥渃ommon sense鈥� and said the administration 鈥渋s standing up for free, fair, and honest elections.鈥�
Trump has continued to claim he won the 2020 election despite all evidence to the contrary. Courts dozens of his legal challenges and at the time said there was no sign of widespread fraud. , and in the battleground states where he contested his loss all affirmed Democrat Joe Biden鈥檚 victory.
and also promoted the idea that large numbers of people who were not U.S. citizens might be voting. Voting by noncitizens and, when caught, can lead to felony charges and deportation.
"It is hard to imagine a subject where this president has less credibility than he does with elections,鈥� said Brown, citing about the 2020 election and to Biden. 鈥淗e is always looking to undermine faith in our democracy.鈥�
Gene Johnson, The Associated Press
