League of Women Voters Education Fund v. Trump

The Constitution gives the power to regulate federal elections to Congress and the States. It gives no power to the President. In 1993, Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act, which requires states to accept a national voter registration form from voters seeking to register in federal elections. By law, that form may require only such identifying information as needed to make sure the applicant is an eligible voter.

Congress created a bipartisan independent agency called the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to develop this federal form. The EAC has long concluded that voters can establish their eligibility by swearing under penalty of perjury that they are a citizen. It is unnecessary for voters to produce their passports or other citizenship documentation in order to register to vote.

Nevertheless, on March 25, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the EAC to add a documentary-proof-of-citizenship requirement on the federal voter registration form. In addition to upending voter registration, sweeping Executive Order would also create a nationwide mail and absentee ballot receipt deadline, decertify all state voting machines across the country, and penalize States that do not comply with the President’s directive.

On behalf of the League of Woman Voters, the League of Women Voters of Arizona, Hispanic Federation, NAACP, OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, and APIAVote, the ACLU, along with co-counsel ACLU of Washington DC, Brennan Center for Justice, NAACP LDF, Latino Justice Project, and AAJC, filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Executive Order. The lawsuit claims that the Executive Order violates the constitutional separation of powers and the NVRA.