23 States Sue Trump Over Unconstitutional Power Grab to Control Elections

Twenty-three states are taking Trump to court over his latest attempt to rig the electoral system in his favor.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced the multi-state lawsuit challenging Trump's executive order from last Tuesday, which seeks to impose sweeping federal control over state-run elections. The order would create a federal database of eligible voters and direct the U.S. Postal Service to refuse sending mail-in or absentee ballots to anyone not on that list.

"The greatest threat to the safety and security of our elections is Donald Trump continuing to lie about them," Fontes said in a statement. "This latest attack on vote-by-mail and voter privacy is a direct attack not just on our voters but on our election administrators who work day in and day out to keep democracy running."

The Constitution is unambiguous: states run their own elections. Trump knows this. He admitted the order would likely face legal challenges when he signed it, saying "maybe it'll be tested." What he's banking on is that the chaos and confusion will suppress voter turnout before courts can strike it down.

Who Gets Hurt

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes pointed out that more than 80% of Arizona voters cast their ballots by mail -- including military families, rural residents, and tribal members. Trump's order would effectively disenfranchise millions of voters who rely on mail ballots because of work schedules, disabilities, or geographic isolation.

"The Constitution is absolutely clear: states run their elections, not the president," Mayes said. "And Arizona will not allow the federal government to seize control of our elections."

The lawsuit includes Massachusetts, California, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Four civil rights organizations -- Common Cause, Black Voters Matter, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, and the NAACP -- have also joined the legal challenge.

"This executive order targeting mail-in ballots is unlawful and usurps congressional authority in order to stop the midterm elections," said Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. "This is another blatant attempt to undermine the people's power."

Even Republicans Are Calling It Out

Utah hasn't joined the lawsuit, but Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who oversees the state's elections, didn't hold back in her assessment of Trump's order. She compared it to an absurdist play she performed in high school, calling it "nonsensical" in a social media post.

That's the polite version. What Henderson is saying between the lines is that the order makes no practical sense and cannot be implemented.

Charles Stewart III, director of MIT's Election Data and Science Lab, was more direct. He called the order a "logistical nightmare" and pointed out that the federal government doesn't have "reliable and unique information about people on voter rolls."

Stewart described implementing the order as a "multiyear project" that would require funding streams, intergovernmental agreements, vendor capacity, testing cycles, and conflict resolution mechanisms -- none of which appear in the executive order's fine print. In other words, Trump signed a wish list with no plan for how to make it happen, no funding to pay for it, and no legal authority to enforce it.

The Pattern Is Clear

This isn't the first time Trump has attacked voting rights, and it won't be the last. He's spent years lying about widespread voter fraud that doesn't exist, pushing conspiracy theories about rigged elections, and now attempting to use executive power to make it harder for Americans to vote.

The goal isn't election security. The goal is election suppression. Mail-in voting has been used safely and securely for decades, including by Trump himself. But it increases voter participation, particularly among communities that have been historically marginalized -- and that's what Trump wants to stop.

The lawsuit argues that Trump lacks the constitutional authority to implement such sweeping changes to election administration. They're right. The question is whether courts will act quickly enough to stop the damage before the 2026 midterms.