U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a Bill Clinton appointee, issued a preliminary injunction that bars the Trump administration from advancing proof-of-citizenship requirements while a lawsuit, filed by the Democratic National Committee and left-wing voting groups against the President’s late-March executive order, plays out.
The EO would require such proof while attempting to register to vote.
The EO, among other things, also called on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to strengthen election integrity and for Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute election crimes.
Kollar-Kotelly also took special interest in extending protections to illegal immigrants, blocking a part of the order that would require those enrolled in public assistance programs to have their citizenship reviewed before being issued a voter registration form.
Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling upheld the lawsuit’s claim which said the Trump administration lacks the authority to change the federal election process.
The lawsuit argues that the EO violates the Constitution’s “Elections Clause” which give states and Congress the power to conduction elections and the laws that govern them.
“What the judge does not pay any attention to is the fact that the federal statutes—there are five federal statutes that govern elections -- and all of those federal statutes require and vest the attorney general of the United States with enforcement authority,” attorney Cleta Mitchell, an election expert at Conservative Partnership Group, said on Washington Watch Friday.
The attorney general, Mitchell notes, is chosen by the President. Therefore, by congressional act, enforcement authority regarding elections has been appointed to the executive branch.
The ruling is flawed on multiple fronts, Mitchell told show host Jody Hice.
“This judge just pretends that there's no statute that makes it a criminal offense for someone to misrepresent on an official form their status, ignores the fact that it's a criminal offense for an alien to register and vote in the United States in a federal election,” Mitchell complained.
Kollar-Kotelly also ignores the fact that the Real ID law already requires proof-of-citizenship documents in order to get a federal ID.
“So this judge has just picked and chosen various provisions of law and utterly disregards the role of the executive branch of government that has been vested by Congress with the responsibility and enforcement power for these federal laws,” Mitchell said. “Basically, the order says the President is changing the rules.”
What the SAVE Act can do
Earlier this month, the House passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. It requires ID to prove citizenship when registering to vote and also requires states to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls.
The bill is pending in the Senate where it will need at least 60 votes to bypass a Democrat filibuster.
Opponents say the SAVE Act, put forth by Texas House Republican Chip Roy, could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
The SAVE Act also:
- Requires states to remove noncitizens from official lists of eligible voters;
- Allows for a private right of action against an election official who registers an applicant to vote in a federal election who fails to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship;
- Establishes criminal penalties for certain offenses, including registering an applicant to vote in a federal election who fails to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship.
The SAVE Act previously passed the House in 2024. Each time it has received some Democrat support. Four House Democrats voted for it this time, but Republicans would need at least seven Democrat votes to overcome a Senate filibuster.
Critics say the bill endangers voter registration for people – an estimated 69 million women – whose last names have changed and no longer match names on their birth certificates or other valid proof of ID.
“Our bill is simple. You should be a citizen to vote,” Roy told American Family Radio last summer.
Mitchell: Senate needs to get serious
Mitchell is bothered by what she sees as Republican inaction in the Senate.
“I'm becoming pretty distressed at the fact that the Republican majority in the Senate is not figuring out how to start legislating again," she observed. "They're just rolling over and playing dead. (Majority Leader) John Thune needs to figure out how to get the Senate back to work.”
The filibuster shouldn’t be a brick wall that Republicans can’t get through, Mitchell said.
“If they made the Democrats actually go and meet the requirements of the Senate rules for a filibuster … they have a pretend filibuster, because the Republican senators don't want to stay in the chamber.”
Mitchell said senators are too focused on the end of the workday.
“You want to have a filibuster? Make them speak. Make the senators work. Make the senators vote. It is time that we were able to function again, and Congress needs to start legislating again," she said.
