Date Filed:
07/18/2017
On July 18, 2017, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) joined The Ordinary People Society, an Alabama-based community organization, in filing a federal lawsuit against the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which the President created by an executive order signed on May 11, 2017. Our complaint alleges that the Commission was formed with the intent to discriminate against voters of color in violation of the Constitution. We also contend that the President exceeded his executive authority in forming a commission to investigate individual or groups of voters, and that the Commission’s overwhelmingly skewed composition and pre-determined findings violate the law governing federal advisory committees.
On August 31, 2017, long-standing civil rights allies LatinoJustice PRLDEF and MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) joined LDF in our case. Our amended complaint added seven plaintiffs: #HealSTL, NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference, NAACP Florida State Conference, Hispanic Federation, Mi Familia Vota, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, and Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. These additional plaintiffs collectively protect the rights of Black and Latino voters around the country, particularly from areas that President Trump targeted with divisive and discriminatory voter fraud rhetoric.
Press:
- Janai Nelson on LDF’s Challenge to Trump’s Voter Fraud Commission, MSNBC (July 19, 2017)
- Vann Newkirk, Trump’s Voter-Fraud Commission Has Its First Meeting, The Atlantic (July 19, 2017)
- The NAACP LDF Is Suing Trump And His Election Commission Over ‘Racist Rhetoric’, Blavity (July 19, 2017)
- Andrew M. Harris and Shannon Pettypiece, Trump Criticizes States That Refused Vote Panel’s Data Request, Bloomberg (July 19, 2017)
- John Wagner and Sari Horwitz, Trump’s Voter Commission Hasn’t Even Met – and it’s Already Off to a Rough Start, Washington Post (July 18, 2017)
- Christopher Ingraham, Trump’s Voter Fraud Commission is Now Facing at Least 7 Federal Lawsuits, Washington Post (July 18, 2017)
- Josh Gerstein, Judge Denies Injunction Against Trump Voter Fraud Panel, Politico (July 18, 2017)
- Caitlin MacNeal, NAACP LDF Sues WH Election Panel, Alleging Racial Discrimination, TPM (July 18, 2017)
- Celeste Katz, NAACP LDF: Trump Election Panel “Was Formed with the Intent to Discriminate Against Voters of Color”, Mic (July 18, 2017)
- Ana Radelat, Merrill Backs House Dems who Fear Trump Panel will Suppress Minority Votes, CT Mirror (July 18, 2017)
- Victoria Bekiempis, Civil Rights Groups Claim Trump’s Voter Fraud Commission is Steeped in Racism, New York Daily News (July 18, 2017)
- Clarissa Hamlin, NAACP LDF Lawsuit Accuses Trump Voter Commission of Racial Discrimination, News One (July 18, 2017)
