BOSTON (AP) — Democratic state attorneys general and government lawyers argued Friday over the implications of President Donald Trump’s proposed overhaul of U.S. elections and whether the changes could be made in time for next year’s midterm elections, how much it would cost the states and, more broadly, whether the president has a right to do any of it in the first place.
The top law enforcement officials from 19 states filed a federal lawsuit after the Republican president signed the executive order in March, saying its provisions would step on states’ power to set their own election rules.
During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston, lawyers for the states told Judge Denise J. Casper that the changes outlined in the order would be costly and could not be implemented quickly. Updating the voter registration database just in California would cost the state more than $1 million and take up to a year, said the states’ lead attorney, Kevin Quade, a deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice.
The lawyers said making the changes would take time away from preparing for the next round of elections, potentially undermining public confidence in the voting process.
“The provisions of the executive order cast doubt and shadow on the ability of states to fairly implement federal elections at the local level, and those types of goodwill and reputational harm … are not the type that can be easily repaired,” Quade said.