[Lwvcnmtopics] LWVCNM - Breaking Executive Order Threatens Freedom to Vote - LWVUS Response

[LWV CentralNewMexico]

Here is the LWVUS response to an Executive Order signed by the President
titled "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of Americans Elections".
Yet another blatant attack on our Democracy.

A Dangerous Attempt to Silence American Voters: LWV Responds to President
Trump’s Anti-Voter Executive Order | League of Women Voters
<https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/dangerous-attempt-silence-american-voters-lwv-responds-president-trumps?utm_source=Salsa&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=VoterRegEO&utm_content=3.26.25&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=452558ce-062c-4052-bd14-fdfb4269de37>

A Dangerous Attempt to Silence American Voters: LWV Responds to President
Trump’s Anti-Voter Executive Order
*Press Release* / Last Updated: March 26, 2025

The League of Women Voters of the United States issued the following
statement in response to President Donald Trump's signed executive
order, “*Preserving
and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,*
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/preserving-and-protecting-the-integrity-of-american-elections/>”
that threatens Americans’ freedom to vote and tramples states’
constitutional authority to run their own elections.

“Let’s keep it real: this order is not about protecting elections; it is
about making it harder for voters — particularly *women voters —* to
participate in them,” said *Celina Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of the
League of Women Voters of the United States.* “This executive order is an
assault on our republic and a dangerous attempt to silence American voters.
The President continues to overstep his authority and brazenly disregard
settled law in this country. To be very clear — the League of Women Voters
is prepared to fight back and defend our democracy.

 “The President can’t unilaterally change election law,” *said Marcia
Johnson, Chief Counsel for the League of the Women Voters of the United
States. *“This order is not only an attack on American voters’ fundamental
freedom to vote, it is also plainly unlawful. The League is committed to
working with our partners and legal advocates to pursue all avenues in
fighting back against this dangerous order, and we will use every tool at
our disposal to defend voters from unjust restrictions on their freedom to
vote.”

The *order's*
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/preserving-and-protecting-the-integrity-of-american-elections/>
 extreme provisions include:

   - Impermissibly requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register
   to vote by altering the federal voter registration form*.* *Nearly 80%*
   <https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/07/about-eight-in-ten-women-in-opposite-sex-marriages-say-they-took-their-husbands-last-name/>*
of
   married women — more than **69 million*
   <https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-save-act-would-disenfranchise-millions-of-citizens/>*
American
   women — adopt their partner’s surname, and they would be unable to register
   to vote if the name on their ID does not directly match their proof of
   citizenship. *Additionally, noncitizens registering to vote and then
   casting a ballot is already illegal in federal elections, and there is *no
   evidence*
   <https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/noncitizen-voting-already-illegal-and-vanishingly-rare>
    to suggest that noncitizen voter registration and voting is occurring
   at any meaningful scale.
   - Prohibiting the counting of absentee and mail ballots postmarked by
   Election Day but received after, which *18 states and Washington DC
   currently permit.*
   <https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/table-11-receipt-and-postmark-deadlines-for-absentee-mail-ballots>
   - Giving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) the authority to
   review states’ voter rolls.
   - Withholding federal funds from states that do not cooperate with the
   order’s provisions.

The League of Women Voters <https://www.lwv.org/> is a nonpartisan
organization with expertise in voting and elections. Our mission is to
empower voters and defend democracy. For more than a century we have stood
in the gap when government falls short of its duty. We will valiantly work
to protect voters and free, fair, accessible elections.


Starlyn Brown, President LWVCNM

League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico
6739 Academy Rd. NE  Suite 124
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109-3352
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