Cheat Sheet: Colorado Sues Trump Over Election Order

After voting by mail himself in a March special election in Florida (his candidate lost), last week President Donald Trump issued “Ensuring Citzenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” an executive order establishing a national voter-eligibility list and imposing new restrictions on mail-in voting, which he calls “mail-in cheating.”

Colorado was one of the first states to embrace mail-in voting, which has increased voter participation while not increasing fraud one iota, according to required state audits as well as national investigations. Following Oregon and Washington, Colorado passed the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act in 2013; it requires ballots to be mailed to every registered voter in the state, not just those on some pre-approved national eligibility list. It also allows for same-day registration and voting, as well as expanded access to early in-person voting and election-day polling centers.

Last year, the Colorado Legislature passed the Colorado Voting Rights Act to ensure that even if federal voting protections are rolled back, Colorado will still prohibit discriminatory election practices. A new bill currently going through the legislature would further strengthen the state’s “gold-standard” election system, protecting mail-in ballots and keeping polling places open longer.

All of these measures are designed to make voting easier…not cheating, despite Trump’s protestations. But then, he’s never won an election in this state, and has several other grievances against Colorado that have inspired numerous Trumper tantrums.

Now Colorado has joined with other states in suing Trump over that executive order:

“The president’s unlawful executive order threatens the right to vote for millions of Colorado voters — Democrat, Republican, or Unaffiliated — who use mail ballots,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser says in a statement announcing the lawsuit, one of more than sixty (and counting) that his office has filed against the administration. “The president does not have the power to take over elections by signing an executive order. The Constitution is clear that the states determine the time, place, and manner of elections. Colorado’s mail ballot voting system is secure and fair, and we’re now in court to protect Colorado’s elections and the freedom to vote.”

“The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary,” Trump said in announcing his latest executive order. “It’s horrible what’s going on.”

Isn’t it?