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LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today secured a victory (PDF) from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, blocking President Trump’s unlawful Executive Order that attempted to interfere with states’ constitutional authority to administer elections. The final ruling follows a multistate lawsuit brought by Attorney General Nessel and a coalition of 24 states that challenged the Administration’s attempt to restrict voting to individuals on lists pre-authorized by the federal government and voting-by-mail to lists maintained by the U.S. Postal Service.
“Time and time again, this administration has unlawfully tried to use the weight of the federal government to bully local election clerks, suppress voters, and deter Americans from making their voices heard,” said Attorney General Nessel. “If the last few days have shown us anything, it’s that Donald Trump cannot and will not get away with it. Courts have made it resoundingly clear that the President does not have the authority to unilaterally upend the election process. Yet, this White House has shown us they will stop at nothing to manipulate the ballot box. I remain committed to fighting back against these illegal attempts to federalize elections, restrict mail-in voting, and infringe upon Michiganders’ fundamental rights.”
“The federal executive order attacking voting by mail is a direct assault on Michiganders’ freedom to make their voices heard,” said Governor Whitmer. “I’m grateful to Attorney General Nessel for securing this result and fighting tirelessly to protect Michiganders’ right to vote. It builds on the progress we’ve made, including legislation I signed this week, to protect voting by mail for service members overseas, their families, and all Michiganders. Let’s keep working together to keep our elections free, fair, and secure.”
“Voting rights are the bedrock of our democracy,” said Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II. “The federal executive order attacking votes by mail is clear interference and intimidation against our independent, democratic process. Today’s result is the right one. Thank you to Attorney General Nessel and all our independent, professional election officials throughout Michigan who ensure Michiganders can make their voices heard. As we mark the 250th anniversary of our nation, we all have a role to play in standing up for voting rights and defending the hard-fought freedoms we hold dear.”
“This is another big victory for Michigan voters,” said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. “For the third time in 24 hours, a court has upheld the Constitutional role of the states to run elections free of federal interference. The message is loud and clear: every eligible voter can vote by mail in Michigan in this and every election. Nothing has changed – Michiganders can be confident that their vote will count no matter how they choose to cast their ballot. Thank you to AG Nessel and our expert legal teams that continue to fight with us to protect our voters and our elections.”
On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order purporting to develop lists of eligible voters in each state and directing the U.S. Postal Service, an independent federal agency, to develop its own such list and transmit mail ballots to only those on the list. The Executive Order also threatened states and elections officials with criminal prosecution and the loss of federal funding if they do not comply with his demands. In their lawsuit challenging the unlawful Executive Order, the Attorneys General argued that the Order would require states to act contrary to their own election laws, voter roll procedures, and vote-by-mail systems.
The court’s decision declares the challenged sections of the Executive Order to be unconstitutional and beyond the President’s authority, and enjoins the Defendants from implementing them with respect to the November 3, 2026, election—and any earlier federal election in the Plaintiff States. The Plaintiff States will submit a proposed judgment to the court within the next seven days.
Attorney General Nessel was joined in filing this lawsuit by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the Governor of Pennsylvania.
Yesterday, Attorney General Nessel secured victories in two separate lawsuits defending state elections and protecting the privacy of Michigan voters from the Trump administration. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that unlawfully sought Michigan’s full electronic voter list with no redactions for sensitive personal information, including full dates of birth, driver’s licenses, social security numbers, and personal identification card numbers. Attorney General Nessel also secured a permanent injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts that blocks key provisions of Executive Order No. 14248 from taking effect in Michigan and other states. Issued by President Trump on March 25, 2025, the Executive Order attempted to conscript state election officials into the President’s campaign to impose documentary proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration, force states to ignore mail ballots that are cast by Election Day but received by election officials just days afterward, and withhold various streams of federal funding from the states if they fail to comply.
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