Democrats ask for immediate block on Trump’s election interference schemes

Democrats asked a federal judge Monday night for a restraining order and temporary injunction to halt President Donald Trump and his administration from interfering in the upcoming midterms.

The Trump administration has escalated its attacks on states’ constitutional authority to administer the election by demanding California and Washington remove alleged noncitizens from voter rolls after voting has already begun, and preemptively suing to block a Democrat from winning the Alaska Senate race.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic Governors Association* and other party leaders argued that a restraining order is necessary because the Trump administration continues “to unconstitutionally impose themselves upon election administration procedures that the Constitution and federal law assign to the States.”

The Democrats sued the Trump administration Oct. 20, arguing the Trump administration’s demands impose on states’ constitutional authority to manage and oversee their election process.

Democrats argue that since they filed their lawsuit, the Trump administration has continued to escalate its attacks on states’ ability to administer voting. That includes Attorney General Todd Blanche threatening to target “a number of states” with lawsuits similar to the one demanding California remove alleged noncitizens from its voter rolls. 

The lists of alleged noncitizens the Trump administration has produced so far have been “cartoonishly unreliable,” the Democrats said.

“Simply put, Defendants are premising their unlawful demands against States and election officials on fundamentally flawed lists that pose an unacceptably high risk of disenfranchising U.S. citizens,” the Democrats said.

*The Elias Law Group (ELG) represents the Democrats in this case. ELG Firm Chair Marc Elias is the founder of Democracy Docket.