Get Out and Vote – Democracy is on the Ballot.
Attorney General Aaron M. Frey secured a victory from the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts today, 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 joined by Attorney General Frey 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 US Postal Service.
“Elections are the cornerstone of a healthy democracy. The real threat to secure elections is the president and his administration’s relentless and unlawful attempts to interfere and undermine public trust in this essential process,” said Attorney General Frey. “This preliminary injunction will prevent needless disruption and uncertainty in an election process that has unfailingly proven to be safe and secure.”
On March 31, 2026 President Trump signed an Executive Order purporting to develop lists of eligible voters in each state and directing the US Postal Service, an independent federal agency, to develop its own such list and transmit mail ballots only to those on the list. The Executive Order also threatened state and elections officials with criminal prosecution and ther loss of federal funding if they do not comply wih his demands. In their lawsuit challenging the unlawful Executive Order, the AG argued that the Order would require states to act contrary to their own election laws, voter roll procedure and vote-by-mail systems.
The court’s decision declares the challenged section 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 coalition will submit a proposed judgment to the court within the next seven days.
Additionally, Attorney General Frey secured a victory in a separate lawsuit challenging President Trump’s March 25, 2025, Executive Order that attempted to require 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. The US District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled in favor of the coalition, declaring key provisions of the Executive Order unconstitutional and inconsistent with federal law.