Overview
- U.S. District Judge John H. Chun issued a 75-page ruling barring enforcement of most of the March executive order against Washington and Oregon.
- The order sought documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration, required that mail ballots be received by Election Day, and tied federal election funding to compliance.
- The ruling protects the vote-by-mail states’ practice of counting ballots postmarked by Election Day, including nearly 120,000 such ballots in Washington and about 14,000 in Oregon in 2024.
- Chun found the directives violated separation of powers by asserting authority over federal election administration and by attempting to add new conditions to federal funds.
- The decision follows earlier district-court setbacks in Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts, and the administration has appealed those cases and is expected to appeal this one.