AG Brown blocks Trump administration’s election power grab

A U.S. District Court judge today blocked President Trump's unlawful Executive Order that tried to interfere with states' constitutional authority to administer elections. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by 23 attorneys general and one governor and co-led by Attorney General Nick Brown that challenged the administration's attempt to restrict voting to individuals on lists pre-authorized by the federal government and voting-by-mail to lists maintained by the U.S. Postal Service. The ruling is a major victory for election integrity, the states' rights to administer elections, and people's right to vote via the U.S. Mail.

"The President's attempt to seize control of our elections by selectively refusing to deliver mail-in ballots was unconstitutional and dangerous­-and the court was right to strike it down," said Brown. "We will continue to defend the right of eligible Washington voters to participate in our democracy."

On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order purporting to develop lists of eligible voters in each state and directing the U.S. Postal Service, an independent federal agency, to develop its own such list and transmit mail ballots only for those on the list. The Executive Order also threatened states and elections officials with criminal prosecution and the loss of federal funding if they do not comply with his demands.

In their lawsuit challenging the unlawful Executive Order, the States argued that the Order would require them to act contrary to their own election laws, voter roll procedures, and vote-by-mail systems. The U.S. Constitution gives states the authority to administer elections, not the President. The States also argued that Trump's executive order would not have allowed sufficient time to upend election administration procedures before the November election, leaving voters confused and in doubt of the security of state election systems.

The court's decision declares key sections of the March 2026 executive order unconstitutional and blocked the Trump Administration from implementing or enforcing the provisions for the November general election. The judge said the Administration is prohibited from doing anything to take control states' voter rolls and is barred from investigating state election systems based on the unconstitutional provisions in the executive order.

The order also bars the Postal Service from "refusing to transmit mail-in or absentee ballots from voters registered in Plaintiff States to elections officials in Plaintiff States." The ruling came just one day after Postmaster General David Steiner testified at a Senate hearing that under a proposed rule the Postal Service will not deliver mail-in ballots in any state that refused to turn its voter rolls over to the Trump Administration but reaffirmed the Postal Service follow court orders governing voting by mail.

In addition to Brown, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford lead the lawsuit. Joining them are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the Governor of Pennsylvania.

Read the order.