1 week Ago By Thelma Grimes [email protected]
Colorado will join several states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the latter's order dealing with elections, a top official said. Since Trump took office in January, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democratic candidate for governor in 2026, has joined nearly a dozen lawsuits , including the two this week, one of which challenges the president's election order. Another lawsuit seeks to stop the “dismantling of federal agencies.
” The Trump administration has directed a federal election agency to ensure proof of American citizenship in the national mail voter registration form and for local officials to record the documentation presented. In a March 25 order, the Trump administration tapped the Department of Government Efficiency to review states' practices to maintain their voter databases, part of a new move by the White House to strictly enforce the ban on non-citizens voting in federal elections. The White House authorized DOGE and the U.
S. Department of Homeland Security to issue subpoenas, presumably to access the states' maintenance systems. Foreign nationals, including permanent legal residents, are not allowed to vote in federal elections.
The Trump administration argued that states have failed to adequately vet voters’ citizenship and the Biden administration "actively prevented states from removing aliens from their voter lists." The memo also directed other agencies to help local officials identify unqualified voters by making accessible systems for verifying the citizenship or immigration status of individuals who already registered or seek to register vote. "Above all, elections must be honest and worthy of the public trust," the White House memo said.
"That requires voting methods that produce a voter-verifiable paper record allowing voters to efficiently check their votes to protect against fraud or mistake. Election-integrity standards must be modified accordingly." “The Constitution grants the states the right to manage elections,” Weiser said in a news release.
“This elections executive order is an overreach by the White House, and it threatens to undermine Colorado’s well-established gold standard for free and fair elections. That’s why we are challenging this illegal action and protecting our freedom to vote.” The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, claimed that “neither the Constitution nor Congress has authorized the President to impose documentary proof of citizenship requirements or to modify state mail-ballot procedures.
” The attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin are part of the lawsuit. Meanwhile, an executive order identified the Institute of Museum and Library Services as part of the Trump administration's campaign to cut “federal bureaucracy.” Weiser’s office said this lawsuit seeks to stop the targeted destruction of the institute, as well as the Minority Business Development Agency, which promotes the growth and inclusion of minority-owned businesses through federal financial assistance programs, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which promotes resolution of labor disputes.
