Politics Federal judge blocks Trump election order, siding with Oregon, Washington

A federal judge in Washington state on Friday permanently blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a 2025 executive order that sought to require voters prove citizenship and that all ballots be received by Election Day.

Oregon and Washington sued over the order last April, separately from 19 other Democratic states that filed their own lawsuit in Massachusetts. The two northwestern states argued that they faced special harm from President Donald Trump’s executive order because they run elections entirely by mail.

The executive order sought to require citizens to provide documented proof of citizenship to register to vote and demanded that all ballots be received by Election Day. It threatened to strip funding from states whose election officials didn’t comply.

In his 75-page order in favor of Oregon and Washington, U.S. District Judge John H. Chun found that Trump lacks the authority to unilaterally order such changes. Chun, appointed by former President Joe Biden, echoed similar rulings in the Massachusetts case brought by other Democratic states and a Washington, D.C., case filed by Democratic organizations and civil rights groups.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/01/09/repub/federal-judge-blocks-trump-election-order-siding-with-oregon-washington/