The federal court ruled on Friday that the President Donald Trump’s request for adding a requirement of documentary proof to federal voter registration forms cannot be implemented.
U.S. district judge Colleen Kollar Kotelly, an appointee of Hillary Clinton, has sided with “civil-rights” and left-wing groups who had sued Trump’s Administration for his executive order to bolster election integrity.
In the order, titled “Preserving and protecting the integrity of American Elections,” federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security(DHS), Social Security Administration(SSA), and Department of State are directed to give states access to databases of federal government to verify eligibility of voters and citizenship at registration. The National Voter Registration Act requires that agencies under this act assess citizenship prior to distributing voter registration forms.
To do this, the order requires documentary proof of U.S. Citizenship for voter registration during federal elections. To do this, U.S. Election Assistance Commission was instructed to update its national mail voter registration forms to include proof such as passports, birth certificates, and driver’s licences that comply with Real ID.
The order warns that states who fail to follow the instructions could lose federal funding.
Left-wing organizations, such as the Democratic National Committee and 19 Democratic-controlled state attorneys generals have filed several lawsuits against this order.
The Judge Kollar Kotelly decided on Friday that the directive concerning proof of citizenship violates separation of powers. Kollar Kotelly, in an opinion written by her, wrote that because our Constitution gives responsibility for election regulations to Congress and the States (and not to the president), the court holds the president does not have the power to make such changes.
The Constitution does not assign any direct powers to the president in these areas.
This latest opinion is a reiteration of comments that the judge made when she issued an injunction in April against provisions requiring voter identification. The judge appointed by Clinton found that Congress was currently discussing legislation which would have an impact on many of the proposed changes that the president purports order. The Clinton-appointed judge found that “no statutory delegation to the Executive Branch allows the President to bypass Congress’s decision making process through an executive order.”
The decision of Friday grants plaintiffs partial summary judgment, which prevents the provision on proofs of citizenship from coming into force. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is permanently barred from adding this requirement to federal voting forms.
BREAKING NEWS: A radical judge has blocked President Trump’s right to ensure citizenship in the federal election.
The Judge Colleen Kollar Kotelly has ruled that Trump CANNOT require the states to demand proof of citizenship when registering federal voters.
She believes… pic.twitter.com/RFVNV2EzoN
Eric Daugherty 30 October 2025 HTML0
Voter ID, as well as a stronger enforcement of noncitizens voting laws have been long-held positions by voters. A poll conducted by Gallup just prior to the presidential election of 2024 found that 84 percent U.S. adult voters were in favour of making it mandatory for all voters to present identification. 83 percent also supported the requirement of proof of citizenship at the time of registration.
Such policies have also been popular across party lines. 67 percent Democrats and 84 % of Independents support mandatory voter identification. Republicans are almost unanimous in their support, with nearly all respondents (98%) expressing it.
The support for the requirement of proof of citizenship was also similar. 66 percent supported it, followed by 84 percent Independents, and 96 percent Republicans.
The President’s focus on voter ID and election integrity laws has been long-standing. In August, Trump said Breitbart news that the “system is not broken. It’s corrupt.”
It’s corrupt. Mail-in votes will always be corrupt. You can only vote in a legitimate way if you have your ID and all. When you use mail-in votes, no one knows where they come from and where they are going. They also travel through many different hands. Jimmy Carter and a group of respected individuals wrote a report a while back, and one point that was made loudly and clearly is that mail in ballots were corrupt. France, and many other countries used it. They have now stopped using it.
