NEWS: Senators Blunt Rochester, Coons join colleagues in introducing bill to kill Trump’s Executive Order restricting vote-by-mail

Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) joined 38 of their colleagues in introducing the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act (Absentee MVP Act) to block President Trump's illegal and unconstitutional executive order (EO) attacking mail and absentee ballots, and to protect the right to vote by mail.

The Absentee MVP Act would nullify President Trump's March 31 EO, or any similar order, that aims to illegally rewrite federal election rules and it would prohibit the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and any other agency from spending funds to implement actions in the president's unconstitutional EO. At its core, the EO would give the USPS sweeping new authority to decide which voters may cast ballots by mail by ordering the USPS to reject and refuse delivery of lawful ballots unless states comply with newly established federal eligibility lists.

Those who do not comply with these unlawful restrictions would face serious consequences: election officials, mail carriers, and others who send or deliver ballots to voters the administration considers ineligible could face criminal charges, and states and local governments could forfeit federal funding. To lay the groundwork for this override of existing state and federal voting laws, the order also tasks DHS with building state-by-state rosters of voting-age American citizens - drawn from federal data sources widely considered to be incomplete and unreliable.

"President Trump's unlawful executive order is an attempt to spread election misinformation and silence American voters," said Senator Blunt Rochester. "The Absentee MVP Act is essential to protecting Americans' right to vote and ensuring the continued integrity of our elections."

"States understand their own unique geographies, voters, and industries, so they are best positioned to make the right choices about how to ensure their citizens have full and fair access to the ballot box, not the federal government," said Senator Coons. "President Trump is trying to illegally rip that power away from the states. This bill will protect voters in every state and ensure our elections are free and fair."

In addition to nullifying the EO, this legislation bars any similar EO and provides additional limits on the Trump administration's attempts to implement the actions in the EO, including by:

• Blocking the Department of Justice (DOJ) and DHS from sharing state voter lists
• Defunding the DOJ's efforts to compel production of state voter lists
• Enforcing the Privacy Act by barring federal agencies from improperly sharing voter data, both within the government and with outside groups
• Defunding any future Commerce Department efforts to enact partisan regulation of mail-in ballots

"The Constitution is clear. Elections belong to Congress and the states, not the President. You do not protect them by building federal lists out of flawed data," said Roman Palomares, LULAC National President and Board Chairman.

"No president - Trump or any to come - should be able to change the rules of an election in order to keep power and disenfranchise eligible voters. This bill pushes back on the Trump Administration's illegal executive order that attempts to do just that. It is a strong, forward-looking step to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure voters decide elections, not politicians," said Cole Leiter, Executive Director, Americans Against Government Censorship.

"For generations, service members have relied on mail and absentee ballots to exercise the rights they serve to defend. This legislation protects that lifeline and makes clear that no administration should be able to undermine access to the ballot for political gain. Our democracy is strongest when every eligible voter can participate without fear or interference," said Janessa Goldbeck, Marine Corps Veteran and CEO, Vet Voice Foundation.

The legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The Absentee MVP Act is available here.