New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 18 other Democratic-led states filed a motion Monday seeking to immediately block key provisions of President Donald Trump‘s executive order on ‘election integrity,’ which they say unlawfully seizes control over elections and threatens voter access.
The motion for a preliminary injunction comes weeks after the coalition sued Trump over the executive order, which they argue is a sweeping and unconstitutional overreach that undermines state authority, imposes voter registration hurdles, and risks chaos ahead of upcoming elections.
“Our Constitution is clear: it is up to the states and Congress, not the president, to set the rules governing our elections,” said Attorney General James. “This Executive Order would throw our elections into chaos, disenfranchise voters, and undermine the public’s faith in our most sacred democratic institutions.”
The March 25 executive order mandates several changes that the attorneys general say violate federal law and constitutional norms. Among them: requiring physical proof of citizenship to register using the federal voter form, restricting the counting of mail-in ballots received after election day, and threatening to withhold federal election funding from noncompliant states.
The attorneys general argue that these measures conflict with the National Voter Registration Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause, and would create significant burdens for state agencies and voters. They say the proof of citizenship requirement is redundant and risks disenfranchising eligible voters, particularly those without immediate access to documentation.
According to James, the rushed implementation timeline has already forced states to reallocate resources and abandon existing election projects, with confusion and uncertainty threatening to upend voter confidence. The AG noted that in New York alone, more than 836,000 voters cast mail-in ballots in 2024, and over 23,500 ballots were “cured” after submission- a procedure that allows mail-in voters to fix any issues with their ballots to ensure their vote is counted.
The attorneys general are calling on the court to step in immediately to halt the provisions before updates to the federal registration form and critical deadlines go into effect, arguing that without court intervention, the changes could drastically reshape voter registration processes, strain state agencies, and risk excluding eligible voters – especially those from vulnerable populations.
Joining James in the motion are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
Monday’s filing follows a separate legal challenge to the executive order brought by civil rights groups and voting advocates in Washington, D.C. On April 24, Federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly partially granted the groups’ requests to block two of the order’s provisions in relation to a proof of citizenship requirement for voters.
“The president’s attempted takeover of federal elections is a blatant overreach to seize power that doesn’t belong to him,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, which supports the suit.
Legal challenges to President Trump’s executive order – framed by the administration as a way to combat election fraud – come amid parallel efforts in Congress, where the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, passed the House on April 11 and now awaits a Senate vote, needing Democratic Senators to get it over the line.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he will make sure the “power grab” does not pass the Senate, accusing congressional Republicans of wanting to “disenfranchise millions of American citizens, seize control of our elections, and fan the flames of election skepticism and denialism.”
