Democrats have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the Justice Department, alleging that the Trump administration is unlawfully interfering with the midterms by pressuring states to remove voters from their rolls.
The complaint, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, cites the Department of Homeland Security’s recent demands that states remove alleged noncitizens from their voter rolls. The complaint argues such action is based on “shoddily compiled lists” that have “crumbled upon the barest inspection.”
The complaint also alleges that Trump administration officials at the Justice and Homeland Security departments have directed a “persistent stream of threats and intimidation” at state and local election officials across the country. The complaint noted that Trump himself had last week threatened to imprison California election officials if they counted mail-in ballots by people the Trump administration claimed were noncitizens.
“None of this is lawful,” the complaint states. “The Executive Branch enjoys no authority to superintend state voter list maintenance, to supplant state determinations of who is qualified to vote, or to dictate who gets a ballot or whose ballot gets segregated.”
The complaint, filed by three national Democratic groups and other Democratic leaders, asks a federal court to stop Trump and his administration from trying to alter states’ voter rolls and to stop pressuring and threatening election officials.
In a statement Wednesday, the Justice Department said that enforcing federal election law and election integrity was a top priority.
“Every action the Department has taken to protect the integrity of this year’s elections is grounded in the law and being litigated in open court. Ensuring that only eligible citizens vote and that every lawful ballot is counted a requirement of federal law,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kiersten Pels said.
Asked about the lawsuit Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis blamed Democrats for fighting “common sense election-security measures.”
“Anyone who illegally votes in our elections will be held accountable,” Bis said in an email.
Trump has spent years claiming noncitizen voting is rampant, even though court reviews and independent studies have found it is rare.
Many of the administration’s claims of noncitizen voting have fallen apart under scrutiny. This summer, the Department of Homeland Security asserted that up to 16,000 voters on the rolls in Nevada could be noncitizens. It later dramatically scaled back its claims and provided the state with a list of 185 suspected noncitizens. State officials checked those names and determined all of them were citizens.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department sued California officials over what it claimed were more than 20,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls. California elections officials have also said those numbers are not accurate.
A preliminary review of a sample of 200 of those voters found more than half were not sent ballots and many appeared to be eligible to vote, according to filings from the Registrar of Voters office in Los Angeles County.
The complaint filed Tuesday was made by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Governors Association, the Nevada Democratic Party, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) and Erick Jose Jimenez, a naturalized citizen and California resident. In addition to Trump and the Justice Department, the complaint also names Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin as defendants.
The legal challenge comes one day after elected officials in a Northern Virginia county also sued the Trump administration, alleging that administration officials have unlawfully claimed the authority to send armed federal agents to polling places.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court Tuesday by the Arlington County Board, alleges that the administration’s policies threaten to disrupt the voting process and undermine trust in local election officials. The lawsuit said the potential for federal interference has forced county officials to “plan for and expend resources to address the possibility of unlawful activity and the reasonable fears of voters and election workers.”
“Threatening to send armed agents to polling stations is unlawful and contravenes the bedrock values of free and fair elections we hold dear in this country,” Matt de Ferranti, chair of Arlington County’s board, said in a statement. “These statements are a clear attempt to stoke fear and undermine confidence in our elections.”
Liam Bowman contributed to this report.
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