LWVUS: Voting Rights Groups Challenge Trump’s Recent Anti-Voter Executive Order
A coalition of voting rights organizations filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to challenge President Trump’s unlawful executive order on voting. The order attempts to seize the power to set voter registration rules from Congress and the states, and doing so in a way that would violate federal law and the Constitution if carried out by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Key provisions of Trump’s order could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, particularly voters of color, women voters, naturalized citizens, voters with disabilities, voters with low incomes, and first-time voters.
The groups are challenging the order’s usurpation of powers, including its directive for the US Election Assistance Commission to change the federal voter registration form to require burdensome submission of documents to prove citizenship, which many Americans do not have or cannot readily acquire. Under existing law, registrants already have to swear to their citizenship under penalty of perjury, and there is no evidence that non-citizens are registering to vote at significant rates.
Click HERE to read the March 27 letter to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Click HERE to read the April 1 complaint.
League in Focus: State Convention 2025
The 2025 LWVLA State Convention was held March 22-23, 2025, at the Hartley/Vey Studio Theatre in the Manship Theatre complex. Representatives of our six Local Leagues in Caddo-Bossier, Iberia, Lafayette, New Orleans, St. Tammany, and Tangipahoa to discuss the theme of "Serving Democracy: The Value of Nonpartisan Civil Service" with an absolutely sterling roster of speakers.
LWVLA on March 29 Constitutional Amendments & Millages
While the League did not do formal studies on the March 29 constitutional amendments and generally does not make recommendations on ballot issues absent specific study, we did make voters aware of statements we have made that were relevant to some of the proposed amendments. Specifically, our statement on the legisture's second extraodinary session on crime in February 2024 was relevant to Amendment 3 and its treatment of juvenile offenders. Likewise, our statement on the third extraordinary session on taxation in November 2024 was relevant to Amendment 2 revising the tax provisions of the Louisiana Constitution. Voters in Iberia and St. Tammany parishes, where failure to renew library millages threatened closure of library systems, were reminded of the Louisiana League's Resolution on Public Libraries, introduced and passed at the LWVUS 2024 National Convention.
LWV of Louisiana Opposes Unnecessary Burdens on Voters
In addition to targeting and discriminating against specific groups, these requirements have a chilling effect on voting more broadly across our Louisiana electorate,” said M. Christian Green, President of the League of Women Voters of Louisiana. “For decades, the League of Women Voters of Louisiana has opposed harsh and unnecessary photo ID and documentary proof of citizenship requirements because Louisiana does not have a non-citizen voting problem. The League is proud to stand up to protect voters from discrimination and harassment.”
League in Focus: Our Impact in 2024
