Minnesota joins a handful of other states in suing the Trump administration over what they call an unlawful Executive Order that restricts voting by mail.
The Minnesota Attorney General's Office says the order attempts to establish a national list of eligible voters and directs the U.S. Postal Service to transmit mail ballots only to those on the list.
“Once again, Donald Trump is trying to use powers he doesn’t have to make an end run around our states and our Constitution. His Executive Order on elections is very clearly unlawful because the Constitution grants states, not the federal government, the power to run our elections,” said Attorney General Ellison. “Minnesota has a long and proud history of free, fair, and secure elections that have some of the highest voter turnout in the nation. Meanwhile, Donald Trump and his team tried to overturn a free and fair election simply because Trump lost. I’m taking Trump to court because I will not allow anyone to violate the law and restrict Minnesotans’ freedom to vote, especially not a president who has repeatedly shown he will sacrifice American democracy for his own political gain.”
The office says it also threatens states and elections officials with criminal prosecution and the loss of federal funding if they do issue ballots to eligible voters who are not on the national list.
The suit claims states have the primary authority to administer elections, and that the constitution does not allow the president to unilaterally impose changes to election procedures, particularly without an act of Congress.
The states beyond Minnesota filing the suit include: California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Josh Shapiro in his official capacity as Governor of Pennsylvania.
