Democrats sue Trump for ‘intimidating’ state election officials

Top Democrats and allied organizations filed a lawsuit Wednesday against President Donald Trump and his administration over their attempts to thwart the mid-term elections, in particular by removing voters from national lists.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., were among the plaintiffs who filed suit against Trump, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The 44-page complaint targets recent DHS requests — including in Nevada and California — that states review lists compiled by federal officials of presumed non-citizen voters.

As the complaint points out, state officials have disputed the accuracy of these lists.

The lawsuit highlights Trump’s Truth Social threat earlier this week, threatening that Los Angeles County election officials “will all go to jail for a long time!!!” » if they count the votes of so-called non-citizens. He cites another from U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Aaron Reitz, who said in a social media post Monday that he would “track down” and “prosecute” anyone who violates federal election law.

“The DOJ’s recent actions confirm that defendants set out to intimidate state election officials by threatening criminal prosecution for doing nothing other than adhering to state law and distributing ballots to registered voters,” says the complaint filed 13 days before the midterms.

The filing alleges that the administration’s efforts to wrest control of elections from the states, combined with federal officials’ threats to local and state officials, violate the Voting Rights Act and constitutional principles that prevent the federal government from forcing states to enact, administer or enforce federal laws.

Besides Schumer and Jeffries, the plaintiffs include Democrats’ campaign arms in the House and Senate, the Democratic Governors Association, the Nevada Democratic Party and Erick Jose Jimenez, a registered California voter who, according to the lawsuit, became a naturalized citizen. 20 years ago, but he fears he could be falsely labeled as a non-citizen and, therefore, “illegally targeted.”

Also among the defendants are Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said he would “absolutely” consider taking the case to the Supreme Court; and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who said his department would penalize states that don’t cooperate with federal requests. The plaintiffs ask the court to find the defendants in violation of the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act and to bar them from further action.

“None of this is legal,” the complaint states. “The executive branch enjoys no authority to oversee the maintenance of state voter rolls, to override state determinations of who is eligible to vote, or to dictate who gets a ballot or whose ballot is segregated – Congress has kept this responsibility with the states, subject only to a narrow civil enforcement power that the administration has refused to invoke in its recent efforts.

The lawsuit represents the latest challenge to the administration’s efforts to force states to turn over their voter rolls, which federal courts have also unanimously overturned. Democrats and election experts have said the efforts could undermine confidence in upcoming elections. But federal officials persisted, including filed a lawsuit against California election officials last week.

Trump administration officials have criticized the allegations in the latest lawsuit.