Trump Executive Order Would Disenfranchise Millions of Black Voters – Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

by Press | Mar 27, 2025 | Press Releases
Robert Weiner, the Voting Rights Project Director at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s latest executive order that seeks to disenfranchise eligible voters:
“The Trump administration’s executive order lacks any basis in fact, law, or Presidential authority. It will inject chaos into our elections process and block millions of eligible Americans from voting, for no good reason. Just like when people claimed Barack Obama was not a citizen, the executive order addresses a fictional issue. It is already a crime for noncitizens to vote, and there is no serious problem of noncitizens voting. Supposedly to solve this non-problem, the executive order would burden–and, in fact, will disenfranchise–millions of people who do not have documentary proof of their citizenship sitting around their homes. Studies show that Black and low-income Americans, even though they were overwhelmingly born in this country, are more likely to have trouble accessing documents required to prove citizenship. The order obstructs their access to the ballot and violates their voting rights.
“Another part of the executive order also hits Black Americans especially hard. The order would force states to refuse to count ballots received after Election Day. A person could mail in their ballot weeks before the election, but if the Postal Service fails to deliver it on time, their vote goes in the trash, through no fault of their own. Recognizing the unfairness of rejecting such votes, around 18 states allow a brief grace period for ballots received after Election Day if they are postmarked before it. Because Black voters use mail-in ballots more frequently than white voters do, the executive order’s effort to ban this equitable approach would disproportionately disenfranchise Black voters.
“The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law convenes the Election Protection Hotline (866-OUR-VOTE), and expects that these unnecessary barriers will cause confusion and a huge increase in problems at the polls.
“Whatever electoral advantage the President might think he will gain by this effort, this executive order exceeds his power and violates the rights of Black voters. We will vigorously fight such efforts to undermine the democratic principles that have made this country great. We will do everything we can to ensure that all Americans who are eligible to vote keep this basic American right.”
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The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. The Lawyers’ Committee implements its mission and objectives by marshaling the pro bono resources of the bar for litigation, public policy, advocacy and other forms of service by lawyers to the cause of civil rights. The Lawyers’ Committee co-leads the national, nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline (866-OUR-VOTE).
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