A federal judge in Washington acknowledged Thursday the tight timeline he faces in deciding whether to pause President Donald Trump’s executive order to create a national voter list and limit mail voting nationwide.
Congressional Democratic leaders, the Democratic National Committee and party campaign committees, as well as civil rights groups and advocacy organizations, urged Judge Carl Nichols for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to pause aspects of the executive order Trump issued at the end of March.
The executive order sought to have the Department of Homeland Security create a nationwide “state citizenship list” and then have the government coordinate with states to use that list as they manage their voter rolls. Separately the order would have the U.S. Postal Service create a rule to restrict election mail to only people on state voter lists.
Additionally, the order directed the attorney general and other agencies to seek to investigate and punish states or local governments that did not comply, including by rescinding federal funds.
At one point during Thursday’s two-hour hearing, Nichols said that if he waited until July, when the order stated the postal service would finalize the rule, “now we’re on the cusp of election season.”
