US judge appears open to blocking Trump's election overhaul order

By Nate Raymond

June 6 (Reuters) - A federal judge appeared open on Friday to blocking enforcement of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping executive order overhauling elections that calls for requiring voters to prove they are U.S. citizens and barring states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

At a hearing in Boston before U.S. District Judge Denise Casper, a lawyer for the Trump administration argued the Republican president's order was lawful and that any request by 19 Democratic-led states challenging it was premature.

But Casper said those states were under pressure to comply with Trump's order before voting begins in the 2026 federal election cycle and that 13 of them that accept mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day say they could be sued by the U.S. Department of Justice unless she issues an injunction.

"Why isn't that warranted now?" Casper asked a Justice Department attorney.

Justice Department lawyer Bridget O'Hickey responded by calling the prospect of her department suing speculative. While Trump's order calls for Attorney General Pam Bondi to take "all necessary action" to enforce Trump's directive, O'Hickey said she could just send a letter encouraging compliance.

O'Hickey also said the states' claims that a part of Trump's order tasking the U.S. Election Assistance Commission with updating the federal voter registration form to require people to submit proof they are U.S. citizens are not ripe as the panel had yet to do so.

"At this point there is no final rule for the court to review," she said.

But Casper said Trump's order contained "mandatory language" requiring the change to the form, despite requirements that changes go through notice-and-comment rulemaking processes first after the states are consulted.

She pressed O'Hickey on what grounds "a president can direct actions by the executive branch that contradict that statutory scheme."

Casper did not immediately rule on the states' request for a preliminary injunction, saying she would "give the matter more thought."

The lawsuit is one of several across the nation challenging Trump's March 25 executive order, which he signed after years of raising doubts about the integrity of the U.S. electoral system and falsely claiming that his 2020 loss to Democratic former President Joe Biden resulted from widespread voter fraud.

Part of Trump's order has already been blocked by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, who at the behest of voting rights groups and Democrats on April 24 blocked enforcement of the provision requiring changes to the voter registration form and for federal election officials to assess whether people who are registering to vote are citizens.

During Friday's hearing, California Deputy Attorney General Anne Bellows urged Casper to block not just those provisions but also importantly the one mandating ballots be received by Election Day.

She said Trump's order relied on an "egregiously wrong" decision last year by a conservative panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declaring it illegal for states to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day, even if they are postmarked by then.

"The president has no Constitutional authority to set rules for federal election because the Constitution gives that authority to the states and Congress," Bellows said.

The case is State of California v. Trump, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 25-cv-10810.

For the states: Anne Bellows and Kevin Quade of the California Department of Justice

For the federal government: Bridget O'Hickey of the U.S. Department of Justice

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