What the executive order does
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 1 April directing the Department of Homeland Security to work with states to compile a list of eligible voters using citizenship records and identification data. The order instructs the United States Postal Service to deliver mail-in ballots only to registered voters who appear on the DHS-compiled list. States and individuals who do not comply face the threat of criminal prosecution and the loss of federal funding.
The lawsuit
Officials from 23 states and the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit on 3 April in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The suit was led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and joined by attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Why it matters
The lawsuit argues that neither the Constitution nor any federal statute gives the president authority to mandate changes to how states administer their elections. The states contend the order “violates bedrock principles of federalism and separation of powers.” Five separate lawsuits have now been filed against the order, including challenges by civil rights organisations and the Democratic National Committee.
The order was signed seven months before November 2026 midterm elections. Several of the states that joined the suit — including Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin — are considered competitive in the midterms.
What the order targets
Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, and Utah conduct elections almost entirely by mail. California, Nevada, and Vermont mail ballots to all registered voters automatically. The executive order, if enforced, would require these states to verify every voter against a federal database before the Postal Service would deliver their ballots — a process the states say does not currently exist at scale and could not be built before November.
What has not happened
No court has issued a ruling on the order. The states have requested a preliminary injunction to block enforcement while the case proceeds. The Department of Justice has not filed a response. The order’s compliance deadlines have not been specified publicly, and no state has indicated it intends to comply.