SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge in Seattle blocked most of President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing an elections executive order against the vote-by-mail states of Washington and Oregon, dealing another setback to the administration’s efforts to require documentary proof of citizenship and to impose a deadline for receiving mail ballots.
U.S. District Judge John H. Chun said Friday the order’s requirements went beyond the president’s authority, according to the report. The ruling also found the effort violated separation of powers, pointing to the Constitution’s allocation of authority over federal elections to Congress and the states.
The executive order, issued in March, included two main election-related requirements at issue in the lawsuit: a provision requiring documentary proof of citizenship when people register to vote, and a demand that all mail ballots be received by Election Day. The order also put states’ federal funding at risk if election officials did not comply.
Washington and Oregon said their existing voting systems would be harmed by a change that required ballots to be received by Election Day rather than postmarked by it. The report said Washington and Oregon accept mail ballots as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.
Oregon and Washington also said such a deadline could disenfranchise thousands of voters. The report cited Washington’s handling of the 2024 general election, saying officials counted nearly 120,000 ballots received after Election Day but postmarked by it. It also said Oregon officials received nearly 14,000 ballots in the same category during the 2024 general election.
Judge Chun’s order came as other courts had already addressed similar claims, the report said. It described similar rulings in a Massachusetts case brought by 19 states and in a Washington, D.C., case brought by Democratic and civil rights groups.
Oregon and Washington sued separately from other states, the report said, because they are exclusively vote-by-mail states and therefore faced particular harms from the executive order.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown called the decision a victory for voters and for the rule of law. Brown said, “Today’s ruling is a huge victory for voters in Washington and Oregon, and for the rule of law,” adding that “The court enforced the long-standing constitutional rule that only States and Congress can regulate elections, not the Election Denier-in-Chief.”
The report also noted that Trump and other Republicans have promoted the idea that large numbers of people who were not U.S. citizens might be voting, while stating that voting by noncitizens is rare and that people caught doing so can face felony charges and deportation.