NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday permanently blocked part of an executive order from Republican U.S. President Donald Trump, ruling that the president cannot require voters to show passports or similar documents as proof of citizenship before voting.

Several lawsuits have challenged the president’s March 25 executive order, a sweeping order aimed at overhauling federal elections, and courts had already temporarily blocked it from taking effect. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., was the first to reach a final ruling against the executive order.

Kollar-Kotelly permanently blocked the part of the executive order that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. The judge had previously refused to block the part of the executive order that would prohibit states from counting mail-in votes received after Election Day.

The ruling came in response to lawsuits from groups including the Democratic National Committee, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the League of Women Voters Education Fund.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the League of Women Voters in the case, said Friday that Americans without updated passports should not be required to purchase new documents to exercise their rights.

“As we celebrate this victory, we remain vigilant and will continue to fight to ensure that all eligible voters can make their voices heard without interference or intimidation,” said Sophia Lin Lakin of the ACLU. “No president can circumvent the Constitution to make it difficult to vote.”

President Donald Trump has long questioned the American electoral system and continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud.
President Donald Trump has long questioned the American electoral system and continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud.

AP Photo/By Han Guan

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The executive order had asked a nonpartisan federal election body to modify a standardized national voter registration form to require a document such as a passport that proves citizenship.

Kollar-Kotelly concluded that part of the order was illegal because the U.S. Constitution gives states, not the president, the power to oversee elections.

Trump has long questioned the US electoral system and continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud. Trump and his Republican allies have also made unfounded claims about widespread noncitizen voting, which is illegal and rarely occurs.

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(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Rosalba O’Brien)