Member-only story
U.S. District Judge Blocks Trump’s Demand for Voters to Prove Citizenship
How, exactly, were we supposed to prove our citizenship?
In a March 25 executive order, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” Trump said that U.S. voters should prove our citizenship when we register to vote.
This would be challenging for many people, in large part because only half of USAmericans have a passport, and how else will we prove our citizenship? His executive order suggested using state ID, including REAL ID, which…doesn’t indicate citizenship.
This would burden any voter for whom election officials might cite their color or accent as a pretext to question their citizenship. In today’s climate, not only would the person likely not get to vote, but they could be arbitrarily sent to immigration detention.
It would also burden anyone whose gender is questioned, insofar as it requires enhanced ID that includes a gender marker. In the so-called “Defending Women” order upon his January 20 inauguration, Trump defined trans people’s claims to our genders as “false,” and since then, our gender markers have been questioned, investigated, and rejected. Imposing a requirement for ID cards that include gender markers, when not all trans people can obtain or hold on our gender…