Another Federal Court Blocks Trump Elections Executive Order as Dozens of States Reject Burdensome Proof of Citizenship to Vote Mandates

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper issued a preliminary injunction blocking key provisions of President Trump’s executive order on elections. Judge Casper joins U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly from the District of Columbia in blocking Trump’s executive order on constitutional and statutory grounds. 

One key provision of Trump’s executive order on elections — a mandate that voters prove their citizenship with a passport or a birth certificate — has been considered, and so far failed to pass, in 25 states and in the U.S. Senate so far this year.

“President Trump’s extreme agenda on elections has now been rejected by two federal courts and dozens of state legislatures,” said Samantha Tarazi, Chief Executive Officer of Voting Rights Lab. “It all boils down to one simple fact: in America, our elections are run by the states and carried out by bipartisan teams of professionals. Our elections cannot be ruled by the whims of the President.” 

Key Facts
  • Last month, the Texas legislature adjourned without passing a measure that would have mandated Texas’s 18.6 million registered voters, and all future voters, provide proof of citizenship, such as a passport or certified birth certificate, in order to vote. Texas joins a growing number of other states, including Florida, Mississippi, Montana, and Utah, that have rejected mandates requiring proof of citizenship to vote, a core plank of President Trump’s elections agenda.
  • Voting Rights Lab’s Election Policy Tracker is tracking bills in 27 states that would create burdensome proof of citizenship requirements to vote this year, nearly double the 14 states that considered such proposals in 2024.
  • A rigorous set of checks and balances exist in every state to ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal and statewide elections. For example, when registering or when someone votes for the first time, Americans generally must provide either a Social Security number or an official state ID like a driver’s license, which election officials can use to confirm their citizenship status. This has been federal law for over 20 years.
  • Millions of voting-eligible U.S. citizens do not have ready access to the types of documents they would need to prove their citizenship status. More than 132 million U.S. citizens do not have a current passport, and nearly 70 million women do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name.
  • Voter ID laws are not the same as documentary proof of citizenship requirements — nearly nine in 10 Americans have a driver’s license, while just about half hold a passport.
  • Research shows states where President Trump performed best in 2024 have the lowest number of citizens with valid passports, while Democratic-leaning states tend to have the highest number of U.S. citizens with valid passports.
  • Every state which has tried to implement a proof of citizenship mandate has encountered administrative chaos, costly litigation, and significant disenfranchisement of eligible U.S. citizens. For example, when Kansas briefly had a state law requiring new voter registrants to provide proof of citizenship, one in eight eligible U.S. citizens who attempted to register to vote over a three year period were erroneously blocked. Consequently, a federal court stopped implementation of the law, finding it violated the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Voting Rights Lab is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that brings state policy and legislative expertise to the fight for voting rights. We work in partnership with organizations across the country to secure, protect, and defend the voting rights of all Americans. And we track voting laws and legislation in all 50 states at tracker.votingrightslab.org.