BOSTON (AP) — Democratic state attorneys general on Friday sought to block President Donald Trump’s proposal for a sweeping overhaul of U.S. elections in a case that tests a constitutional bedrock — the separation of powers.
The top law enforcement officials from 19 states filed a federal lawsuit after the Republican president signed the executive order in March, arguing that its provisions would step on states’ power to set their own election rules and that the executive branch had no such authority.
During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston, the first in the case, lawyers for the states told Judge Denise J. Casper that the changes outlined in the order could not be implemented before the next election and could cost California alone $1 billion to implement. The lawyers said the work needed to make the changes would take time away from preparing for the next round of elections, potentially undermining public confidence in the voting process.
In a filing supporting the states, a bipartisan group of former secretaries of state said Trump’s directive would upend the system established by the Constitution’s Elections Clause, which gives states and Congress control over how elections are run. They said the order seeks to “unilaterally coronate the President as the country’s chief election policymaker and administrator.”
If the court does not halt the order, they argued, “the snowball of executive overreach will grow swiftly and exponentially.”
Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely well written article. I’ll be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful info. Thanks for the post. I’ll certainly return.