Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced on Apr. 3 that she is co-leading a coalition of 24 states in filing a lawsuit against President Trump in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The suit challenges an executive order that seeks to limit states’ authority over election administration by restricting voter eligibility and mail voting to lists pre-approved by the federal government.
The issue centers on state versus federal control of election procedures, with critics arguing that the executive order would undermine established systems and potentially disenfranchise eligible voters. The coalition contends that such actions could disrupt upcoming elections and cause confusion among voters.
“Though the President may wish he had unlimited power to restrict voting rights, the Constitution gives states – not the White House – the authority to oversee elections,” said AG Campbell. “Mail-in voting is secure, our election laws are strong, and there is absolutely no evidence of widespread voter fraud. I will not back down from ensuring that every eligible voter in Massachusetts can cast their ballot and have their vote counted.”
Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin also commented: “The President has no right to pre-approve the list of citizens who can vote in an American election, nor does he have the right to track their ballots through the mail, or to prevent certain ballots from being delivered. Voters choose candidates – candidates do not get to choose their voters.”
The lawsuit claims that only Congress has authority under the U.S. Constitution to change federal election procedures and points out flaws in past federal verification efforts such as those involving the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) database, which produced incorrect results for 35% of individuals tested in one Missouri county and led some states using SAVE to wrongly cancel citizens’ registrations.
State law entitles all eligible voters in Massachusetts—where more than 61% voted by mail during the 2024 State Primary—to cast ballots using established security measures like signature verification and public counting processes.
The attorneys general argue that enforcing this executive order would force abrupt changes before major elections, risking confusion and potential disenfranchisement among voters across party lines.
This action follows previous legal steps taken by AG Campbell regarding voting rights protections; she joined other attorneys general last year challenging proof-of-citizenship requirements for registration—a move blocked by courts—and filed an amicus brief supporting key provisions of federal voting rights legislation.
According to its official website, The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court acts as final authority on state law, oversees appellate jurisdiction over lower court decisions within Massachusetts, regulates legal practice statewide, supports public access to court opinions, provides advisory opinions on legal issues for government officials, engages in educational outreach about judicial processes throughout The Commonwealth, and stands as one of oldest continuously functioning appellate courts in Western Hemisphere.
