Congressman Cohen Condemns Trump’s Unconstitutional Voting List Power Grab
President has no authority to change state election rules
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, today condemned President Trump’s executive order on Tuesday that seeks to interfere with state election laws and procedures involving the eligibility of voters in federal elections.
The order purports to direct the Department of Homeland Security to create a “state citizenship list” based on data from citizenship and naturalization records, Social Security records and other federal databases.
The order directs federal officials to send the list to state election officials, and orders the attorney general to prioritize prosecution of election officials who provide federal ballots to ineligible voters (i.e., those not on the new approved lists). It also directs the U.S. Postal Service not to transmit mail-in or absentee ballots to any individual not included on the “state citizenship list.”
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
“Last night, Donald Trump issued an unconstitutional and anti-democratic executive order that tries to disenfranchise voters by substituting the postal service for election officials in deciding who can vote. This is Trump’s attempt to ‘nationalize’ the election with voter lists his administration approves. Let me be clear: No President, not even Donald Trump, has the uniliteral power to change state election rules. This is a blatant power grab. It is imperative that we hold Trump and this Administration accountable and reject these brazen attempts to undermine our democracy.”
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