LDF Condemns Unjust Ousting of Election Assistance Commission Members

Yesterday, President Trump ousted the remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), rendering the Commission inoperable. The EAC is a bipartisan agency that certifies voting systems and assists state and local officials in running secure elections.

Demetria McCain, Director of Policy at the Legal Defense Fund, issued the following statement in response:

"President Trump's latest effort to gut a federal agency is a sweeping, unjust act that undermines the power of voting and the promise of fair, secure elections. The decision to purge the members of the EAC is an affront to the agency's bipartisan, independent commitment to ensure the integrity of our state and local electoral processes. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. Slaughter opened the door to this abuse of executive power. The president is attempting to assail the ability of Americans to elect candidates of their choice prior to the midterms.

"Safeguarding our elections is integral to our democracy. In the courts, before legislative bodies, and at the polls, LDF will continue fighting to ensure that all elections are fair and free of intimidation."

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation's first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF's archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.