California AG Rob Bonta sues Trump over election laws executive order

William Melhado, The Sacramento Bee on Apr 3, 2025

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California joined 18 other states in challenging President Donald Trump’s recent effort to overstep states’ election laws and voting requirements by filing a federal lawsuit Thursday.

The executive order imposes new voting guidelines states must follow in order to receive federal funding to conduct elections, including a voter ID requirement and prohibiting any ballot counting after Election Day.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a Thursday press conference that Trump has overstepped the executive branch’s authority by attempting to influence how states count ballots.

Since losing the 2020 presidential election, Trump has falsely maintained voter fraud led to his defeat.

“The narrative that our elections are ‘rigged,’ is a tired one, with no evidence or merit that distracts from the real issues at hand,” Bonta said.

In a federal district court in Massachusetts, Bonta and a coalition of Democratic attorneys general argued that the sweeping executive order was an unconstitutional power grab.

The president doesn’t have the authority to rewrite states’ election laws, Bonta said.

The federal government’s threat to withhold funding from states that don’t comply with Trump’s directive amounted to backmail, which was far more dangerous to elections than false claims of voter fraud, said Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford during the press conference.

“Our elections, again, are safe,” Ford said. “Our elections, again, are secure.”

The coalition of states is challenging several components of the executive order, including the requirement for proof of citizenship, which Bonta said hinders participation in elections.

Additionally, Bonta and others are suing over the provision that prevents states from counting mail-in ballots cast before, but received after, Election Day.

Thursday’s lawsuit was the tenth time in ten weeks the California Department of Justice has sued the Trump Administration, Bonta said.

The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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