The coalition filed the lawsuit April 3 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, challenging the March 31 executive order. The order also threatens states and election officials with criminal prosecution and loss of federal funding for noncompliance, according to the press release.
"The Constitution plainly forbids the President from commandeering elections to manipulate and micromanage how we vote," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. "This executive order is an illegal attempt to disenfranchise millions of voters and fundamentally alter how Americans vote."
The attorneys general argue the order violates the separation of powers and unlawfully interferes with states' constitutional authority to administer elections, the announcement said. The coalition contends the order would require states to act contrary to their own voter roll procedures, vote-by-mail systems, and voter registration laws.
The coalition warned that the order would force states to "upend" existing election administration procedures within weeks of primary elections and months before mail voting begins for the 2026 general election. Such rapid changes, the attorneys general said, would create "confusion, chaos, and distrust in state election systems" while threatening to disenfranchise eligible voters.
The lawsuit was led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown. The coalition includes attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin, along with the Governor of Pennsylvania.
The coalition seeks a court order preventing the federal government from implementing or enforcing the executive order.