WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) was joined by Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) and Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) in sending a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche demanding that the Department of Justice reject Donald Trump's executive order seeking to create a national list of eligible U.S. voters.
The members warn the order would disenfranchise the overwhelming majority of Arizonans who vote by mail, and is a direct violation of the Constitution, which grants states, not the president, authority over how elections are conducted.
"This is a gross overreach of the federal government,” the members write. “The Constitution does not give the president unilateral authority over how voting is conducted.”
The order would be particularly harmful to Arizona voters. In 2024, 85% of all Arizona ballots were cast early, with the majority submitted by mail. No-excuse early voting has been a cornerstone of Arizona elections since 1991, established by Republicans, and has proven to be popular, reliable, and secure.
The delegation also pushed back on the administration's call to create a national voter list, calling it "unprecedented and unnecessary." Rigorous systems already exist in every state to verify citizenship at registration. A Heritage Foundation study found just 23 cases of noncitizen voting in federal elections out of more than 1.2 billion ballots cast over the last two decades.
This is the second time the Trump administration has attempted to federalize elections by executive decree. Courts blocked major elements of a similar order last year, including a directive to withhold federal election funds from noncompliant states, a threat the new order repeats.
"States run elections and understand the steps that must be taken to protect every eligible voter," the members wrote. "The federal government does not."
Find the full letter HERE.