State and local election officials question agency about Trump’s attempt to overhaul operations

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — State and local election officials from around the country on Thursday questioned the leaders of a federal agency tasked by President Donald Trump with implementing parts of his sweeping election overhaul executive order, with some expressing concerns about the consequences for voters and the people in charge of voting.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission, an independent and bipartisan federal agency, is at the center of Trump’s March 25 order that directs the commission to update the national voter registration form to include a proof-of-citizenship requirement and revise guidelines for voting systems. Trump also wants it to withhold federal money from any state that continues to accept ballots after Election Day even if they are postmarked by then.

Whether the Republican president can order an independent agency to act and whether the commission has the authority to do what Trump wants will likely be settled in court.

A federal judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the proof-of-citizenship requirement from moving forward while the legal challenges over Trump’s executive order play out.

On Thursday, the commission’s Standards Board – a bipartisan advisory group of election officials from every state – held its annual meeting in North Carolina. It was among the first conversations held by those who oversee the nation’s voting on the implications of Trump’s executive order.

READ MORE: Judge to hear arguments from watchdog groups seeking to block Trump’s order on elections

The meeting was largely an opportunity for election officials to ask the four EAC commissioners about Trump’s executive order and share their concerns about its effects on election administration and voting.

“I can see on your faces there’s a lot of concern in this room for this process and other aspects of it,” Commissioner Thomas Hicks said. “And I would highly encourage you to send comments to us on that.”

An election official from Utah raised concern about how Native American communities might be affected under a proof-of-citizenship requirement, while an election official from Florida asked how voting machine companies could be expected to comply when a voting system has yet to be certified to meet the latest guidelines, which were updated in 2021.

“And they’re going to what — ramp up production and provide voting equipment and all that for all 50 states and five territories?” asked Paul Lux, elections supervisor in Okaloosa County.

Donald Palmer, chair of the Election Assistance Commission, sought to reassure election officials that the commission would weigh their concerns and encouraged them to continue sharing their thoughts.

“Wherever we end up in this process, my goal is to provide the least disruption to the states, to mitigate any impact on you and your voting systems,” Palmer told the group.

Voting rights groups, the Democratic Party and Democratic officials in 21 states have sued, arguing that the Republican president is exceeding his authority under the Constitution and interfering with states’ power to set election rules. They want to block the commission from taking action to implement the executive order.

The Constitution says it’s up to states to determine the “times, places and manner” of how elections are run, while Congress has the power to “make or alter” regulations for presidential and congressional elections. It does not grant the president any authority over how elections are administered.

The commission isn’t waiting for the court cases to play out. It sent a letter to state election officials seeking their thoughts on how they might implement a change to the national voter registration form to include a proof-of-citizenship requirement.

“It remains to be seen how this all plays out,” Commissioner Christy McCormick told The Associated Press during a break in the meeting. “I think we have to be ready, though. And I think that’s the position we’re in at the moment — trying to take what steps we can to be prepared.”

Both the process for updating the national voter registration form and making changes to the nation’s voluntary voting system guidelines are outlined in federal law. For the form, that involves getting feedback from state election officials and from the agency’s advisory boards. The process for the voting system guidelines also includes a period for public comment and a hearing.

Congress created the Election Assistance Commission after the 2000 presidential election, which included a contested outcome in Florida, to help states update their voting equipment.

Under the 2002 law, the commission was charged with distributing federal money for new voting equipment, creating voluntary guidelines for voting systems, establishing a federal testing and certification program for them, and overseeing the national voter registration form. It also has worked closely with the states to gather an array of data and share ideas on how to run elections more efficiently.

Trump, who continues to make false claims about the 2020 presidential election, instructed the commission to “take appropriate action” within 30 days to require documentary proof of citizenship on the national voter registration form. The order outlines acceptable documents as a U.S. passport, a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or official military ID that “indicates the applicant is a citizen,” or a government-issued photo ID accompanied by proof of citizenship.

The requirement has caused widespread concern that it will disenfranchise millions of voters who don’t have a passport or ready access to their birth certificate or other documents that will prove their citizenship. Similar laws at the state level have caused disruptions, including during town elections last month in New Hampshire and in Kansas, where a since overturned law ended up blocking the voter registrations of 31,000 people who were citizens and otherwise eligible to vote.

Trump’s order also directed the Election Assistance Commission to “take all appropriate action to cease” federal money for any state that fails to use the form that includes the proof-of-citizenship requirement, though a handful of states are exempt under federal law from using the national form.

Some states would have to halt their practice of counting late-arriving mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day. If they don’t, Trump’s executive order directs the commission to withhold election-related funding. Oregon and Washington have filed a separate lawsuit against the executive order, saying it would upend their elections because they rely entirely on mail voting.